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Green Jaguar: Royal newly-weds stun crowds with electrifying style

Green Jaguar: Royal newly-weds stun crowds with electrifying style
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After a royal wedding unlike any seen before in Britain, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a suitably unconventional choice of vehicle in which to travel to their evening reception.

Prince Harry drove his new bride, wearing a Stella McCartney dress, from Windsor Castle to nearby Frogmore House in a silver blue Jaguar E-Type, originally built in 1968 but recently converted to electric power. Its number plate bore the date of Saturday's wedding - E190518.

Jaguar launched the service to restore and convert existing E-Types to electric power -- the ultimate in upcycling -- last year as Concept Zero, but with a cost of at least $400,000 you'll need a king's ransom to afford it.

The green supercar driven by Prince Harry is based on a Series 1.5 E-Type, once described by Enzo Ferrari as "the most beautiful car in the world," with its original gas-guzzling 3.8-liter XK engine replaced by a 295-horsepower electric motor.

The Concept Zero offers the same electrifying performance as a petrol-powered E-Type, one of the world's fastest production cars when it was launched in 1961. A top speed of 150mph is claimed for the electric car along with a 0-60mph time of 5.5 seconds and a range of 170 miles.

The vehicles are re-engineered in Coventry in the West Midlands by Jaguar Land Rover Classic, the heritage division of the British carmaker, now owned by India's Tata Motors. The Concept Zero was the brainchild of chief Tim Hannig, who told Autocar magazinethat while it may not appeal to every Jaguar purist, he hoped it would attract well-heeled buyers who desire classic motoring "without the oil leaks."