Official: Jaguar’s new 986bhp+ electric car is called the ‘Type 01’

So here we are then. Three years since we first heard Jaguar was planning on reinventing itself via an expensive electric GT car, around 18 months since that campaign very nearly broke the Internet, 17 months since we first saw an actual car and then digested the furore, and three months since we drove a prototype comes – at long, long last – the name.

Type 01. Not an exclusive Microsoft Word font you need a licence for, but a name that ties back to old Jaguars like the C-Type and E-Type and F-Type, despite Jaguar telling us to forget what came before (the ‘Type’ bit).

And it’s a name that also looks forward, that being ‘zero tailpipe emissions’ and electricity as a motive force (the ‘01’ bit). This name will apparently appear “on the strikethrough motif where the bonnet meets the windscreen”.

And what lurks underneath that name and windscreen might just be as earth-shattering as the original rebrand campaign. We know the Type 01 will get a tri-motor electric setup delivering more than 986bhp (1,000PS+) and a whopping 959lb ft of pure e-power.

We also know it’ll pack a 120kWh battery in a configuration unique to Jaguar, feature 850V architecture, will be able to charge at up to 350kW, and is aiming for over 400 miles of range. Among many other innovations, we know one other thing: it won’t pack a rear window.

Jaguar boss Rawdon Glover said: “We have reimagined Jaguar for a new era, with inspiration from what has gone before. Our engineers have achieved this with a vehicle that looks and drives like no other electric car, yet reflects a unique provenance.

“The Type 01 name is part of that story – for me, the zero also signifies a complete brand reset, and the ‘1’, our first car for a new chapter, a ‘one of a kind’,” he added.

Prototypes will appear in Monaco for the Formula E race this weekend, and the final car will be revealed “later this year”, said Jaguar.

Speaking of prototypes, TopGear.com’s had a go in an early Type 01, finding it akin to ‘an XJ for the 21st Century’. Can a car with this much hype possibly deliver? We’ll find out very soon.