It's our first glimpse of Jag's Evoque alternative. Expect to see loads of 'em

Jaguar has announced a new crossover, the E-Pace. As well as being usefully smaller than an F-Pace, it will be usefully cheaper, too.

It will start at around £28,500. While hardly small change, it’s surely a guarantee that E-Paces will be blooming everywhere from 2018, when it launches. It also means the Range Rover Evoque finally has a proper posh crossover rival, one from within its own ranks.

Click through the images above (respectively the E-Pace, F-Pace and forthcoming, electric I-Pace) from Jaguar’s teasing tweet and you’ll see that the E has much tighter overhangs and is a far tauter looking car. Practicality will have nose-dived over the F, but we suspect the E will be a neater piece of design in person.

Jag’s confirmed the E-Pace will come with all-wheel drive and a mix of its latest turbocharged petrols and diesels. Expect smaller four-cylinder units to be the big deal here, rather than the powerful sixes that shine in the larger Jaguar F-Pace.

The F-Pace is currently Jag’s strongest seller, but the E-Pace ought to wrestle that title from its mitts pretty quickly. Need a reminder on the Jaguar I-Pace? It’s Jag’s electric SUV concept, with a production version due in 2018.

Jaguar will soon have a stronger SUV range than Porsche, then, and one not far off Audi’s and Merc’s for breadth. Who’d have thought that a few years ago?

The Jaguar E-Pace is a five-seat compact SUV that packs the design and performance of a Jaguar sports car into a spacious, practical and connected all-wheel-drive vehicle.

The E-Pace is the newest member of Jaguar's SUV family following Jaguar's first all-electric SUV, the I-Pace Concept and the World Car of the Year-winning F-Pace performance SUV.

The exterior design is inspired by the F-Type sports car and is characterised by the distinctive Jaguar grille, muscular proportions, short overhangs and powerful haunches. Optional 21-inch alloy wheels give the E-Pace a bold and purposeful stance, instantly communicating dynamic agility. Jaguar sports car DNA is also evident in the fast sweep of the roofline and the distinctive side window graphic.

The E-Pace will be one of the most connected and intelligent vehicles in its class. The next-generation touchscreen infotainment system connects customers to their favourite apps, such as Spotify through Jaguar Land Rover's InControl apps.

Digital connectivity can be found throughout the cabin, ready for every need of the modern family. There are up to four 12-volt charging points and five USB connections as well as a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices.

The Jaguar E-Pace has exceptional interior space for a vehicle in this class. The compact SUV is 4,395mm long with short front and rear overhangs of 882mm and 832mm respectively. Its 2,681mm wheelbase seats five in absolute comfort and yields a generous rear legroom of 892mm while the large luggage capacity of 577 litres is made possible by the vehicle's sophisticated Integral Link rear suspension architecture.