Never mind the Kardashians. Recently, Jaguar Design Director Iam Callum set the internet on fire with a simple statement to English website Autocar: “My personal view is that electric cars are a new start. Car design will change more in the next 15 years than it has in the past 100 – electrification will kickstart the biggest change in automotive design in history.” 

As statements go, this one shouldn’t be surprising, much less controversial. For one thing, electric cars have been with us in one form or another for nearly as long as there have been cars (one early example was even mentioned in The Great Gatsby). For another, as fuel economy regulations get more stringent and as drivers become more conscious of the environmental and monetary costs of driving, what used to seem like the stuff of science fiction has become a fact of life in recent years.

More to the point, this isn’t exactly the company’s first go at electric vehicles. Besides hybrid drivetrains found in concept vehicles like the C-X75 and a rumored Jaguar XJ hybrid, the company is also gearing up to enter the all-electric Formula E racing series, known as much for innovation as for fierce competition. There have been rumors of a Jaguar E-TYPE crossover from roughly the same time the F-TYPE Jaguar was first announced. Most tantalizing of all, Jaguar is rumored to be on the verge of introducing the inaugural concept vehicle for an all-electric offering by 2017.

In conversation with Autocar, Callum stated, “I’m clear in my mind that an electric Jaguar would be suitable for the brand. You have to move with the times and design for the opportunities.” This is in keeping with his design philosophy ever since he took the position over from the late Geoff Lawson in 1999; under Callum’s stewardship, Jaguar has embraced some of the most forward-looking vehicles on the road right now, combining innovative engineering with a willingness to wait on a concept in order to get it right the first time.

You can see the results of that philosophy today at Jaguar of Peabody. Visit our showroom at 247 Newbury Street in Peabody, MA today for answers to your questions or to schedule a test drive from our inventory of new Jaguar cars.