Tata Motors-owned British car company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is making a big push for electric vehicles. Its first battery electric vehicle (BEV), the i-Pace SUV, which will be in India next year, has been picking up awards not only in the green car category but also for design and overall classes.
JLR, however, had so far remained quiet about its plans for electrics to follow as well as what it is planning for the rest of the product line-up. For the first time last week, it has revealed its plans to the World Car Awards jury and also given it a sneak peek into its new design vault.
So, what exactly does the company plan to drive out from there? The first of them would be the replacement of XJ luxury sedan, the last of whose older version rolled off the assembly line this month. The big difference for the replacement model is going to be the powertrain — it would be an XJ electric rather than the petrol of the previous version.
An all-new top-of-the-line SUV, J-PACE, is in the offing too. While it is likely to draw on Land Rover for much of its running gear, it would be aimed at the market for sporty SUVs with a clear focus on the driver. There will be an all-electric version along with most likely a couple of variants with internal combustion engines.
Also on the cards are, according to WCOTY, “considerably less expensive ‘baby Jags’”, SUVs that are likely to slot in under the F-PACE and likely to be badged A-PACE or B-PACE. While typically this size of vehicles are designed as urban crossovers, no details of the new Jaguars have been revealed.
The company has been shifting towards increasingly making cars in aluminium to keep the weight down and make them more efficient in terms of energy consumption. That is going to be the theme for the new XE sedan that is in the making. In fact, even in the current XE aluminium is used substantially.
Also under development is the next generation F-TYPE sportscar. WCOTY did not specifically reveal whether this one will have an electric version, too, or continue with petrol engines like the current line-up.
According to JLR CEO Ralf Speth: “The future of mobility is electric and as a visionary British company we are committed to making our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the UK.
“We are co-locating our electric vehicle manufacture, Electronic Drive Units and battery assembly (operational 2020, capacity 150,000 units) to create a powerhouse of electrification.”