• by Tanya Gazdik , August 4, 2017

Look out, Tesla. The Jaguar I-PACE Concept vehicle, the automaker’s first all-electric vehicle, is starting to turn heads. 

The performance SUV took the overall prize at 16th North American Concept Vehicle Awards and also was awarded Production Preview Concept of the Year. The automaker says the model will be on the road in the second half of 2018.

The awards, held at the Concours d’Elegance of America just outside of Detroit, recognize those vehicles most likely to shape the future of the automobile industry. More than two dozen jurors participated in a selection process that involved a total of 24 vehicles, each introduced to North America during this season's auto shows in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and New York.

The vehicle’s design takes full advantage of the packaging freedom offered by electrification.

Praised for its beautiful and futuristic design, the I-PACE Concept was described by judge Ashly Knapp as a "landmark in automotive technology." Juror Lauren Fix said, “Jaguar has completely improved the brand in so many ways, and the I-PACE Concept presents the new direction.”

Some early electric vehicles from other automakers have been utilitarian in design.

The automaker aimed to design an electric vehicle that is still unmistakably a Jaguar and one which demonstrates that an electric vehicle can be visually dramatic as well as practical, says Ian Callum, Jaguar director of design.

“I think that the Jaguar I-PACE Concept has done exactly that, and is clearly at the forefront of the trend for more beautiful, more desirable electric vehicles,” Callum says in a release.