Under the new Jaguar's shapely bonnet is an all-alloy 3.0 V6 that's supercharged to produce 380hp and 332lb ft. That's not too shabby in itself, but the concept's performance is supplemented by an electric motor producing 95hp and 173lb ft - the driver can whip up the extra ponies at the push of a steering-wheel boost button. So, with an eight-speed gearbox and lightweight aluminium chassis, the C-X16 will crack the sprint to 62mph in 4.4secs and reach a top speed of 186mph. It's also capable of 41mpg, and emits just 165g/km of CO2.

The starting point is Jaguar's eight-speed transmission with start/stop tech, recently launched in the XF sports saloon, but the C-X16 also gets a motor-generator mounted as one unit with the gearbox. This draws power from a 1.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack mounted behind the seats for 50:50 weight distribution, and there's an electro-hydraulic brake energy regeneration system on the back axle. A dashboard display graphic indicates when the additional boost provided by the electric motor can be deployed, and when fully charged the 'Push to Pass' boost button mounted on the steering wheel unleashes the extra 95hp for up to 10secs. Both the battery pack and motor are liquid cooled (to prevent performance losses through heat build up) using chilled air from the vehicle's air-conditioning.