As I mentioned earlier this week, the 2017 Jaguar F-Pace turns out to be all kinds of amazing despite not being a sexy wagon. Turning smashed soda cans into 200+ mile an hour sports cars is pretty impressive, and the 3-to-1 recycled ratio Jaguar is planning to achieve by 2020 is something even Captain Planet would have to approve.
One reason for the F-Pace’s goodness lies in its construction, which uses an aluminum intensive (80 percent) structure as a base with some added magnesium and steel bits, to result in a near-perfect weight distribution of 50/50. Add 380 horsepower, and we’re in business.
The F-Pace’s core body weighs just 661 pounds, and a third of it is made of recycled aluminum, which needs 95 percent less energy to produce. That’s a huge difference, and Jaguar even came up with a new grade for their metal, which they call RC5754.
Jaguar Land Rover spent $700 million to set up the XE and F-Pace production at the Solihull plant, and since the sedan went on sale, the brand managed to reclaim over 50,000 tons of aluminum scrap through its 11 press shops. But the plan is to go much further than that by 2020, when Jaguar intends to use 75 percent recycled aluminum throughout its entire lineup.
Not all carmakers believe in aluminum being the ultimate car building material, but those who do can end up with products reaching 201mph even with just a movie star driving for a publicity stunt.
As I mentioned earlier, the F-Pace SVR can’t come soon enough.