Jaguar Land Rover Working on Pair of New Electric Crossovers
Look for the Jaguar J-Pace and Land Rover Road Rover electric crossovers in late 2021.
The automotive industry continues its inexorable evolution towards predominantly electric and hybrid vehicles with news that Jaguar Land Rover has two new electric crossovers in the works. The two new models will help Jaguar Land Rover meet the ever more stringent emissions regulations that Europe is putting in place. Bradley Berman over at Electrek has the scoop.
As Berman notes, Jaguar Land Rover announced last year that the iconic XJ luxury sedan’s replacement would be a completely electric vehicle. The new car will be built on Jaguar Land Rover’s new MLA (Modular Longitudinal Architecture) platform.
The story on Elektrek’s site references a recent article written by Hilton Holloway for Autocar. According to reporting by Autocar, the two new crossovers will be built on the MLA platform that the electric XJ sedan will be based on. The two models are the J-Pace and a Land Rover supposedly called the Road Rover. The crossovers are expected to be available to consumers by late 2021. Both crossovers are part of a massive $1.15 billion investment that Jaguar Land Rover is using to convert its Castle Bromwich and Solihull plants for MLA production.
Vehicles based on the MLA platform aren’t just battery powered. “The MLA platform is not strictly pure electric,” says Autocar. “Like BMW’s flexible manufacturing strategy, JLR will use MLA to make conventional internal-combustion vehicles (perhaps with some mild hybrid variants), plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. The company could dedicate either Castle Bromwich or Solihull to focus on some but not all of the electric powertrains.” Electric vehicles utilizing the MLA platform will supposedly be powered by a 90.2 kWh battery. That’s smaller than the 95 kWh battery used in the Audi E-Tron but closer to the Porsche Taycan batteries, which range from 79.2 to 93.4 kWh.
The designs for the two crossovers have not been finalized. But Jaguar’s new director of design, Julian Thomson, sounded suitably excited about the crossover he is tasked with designing. “It will be a beautiful car, with an engaging drive and luxurious interior…a cabin ambiance that’s calm and refreshing,” he told Autocar. Electrek notes that sales of the electric Jaguar I-Pace SUV have been disappointing, despite the initial excitement that accompanied its launch in 2018. Production was halted in February due to a lack of batteries.
But it’s imperative that Jaguar Land Rover keeps abreast of increasingly strict European CO2 regulations. “So an increasing number of the British automaker’s models will be offered as plug-in hybrids – and to a lesser extent, pure EVs,” says Electrek. “JRL’s flexible manufacturing means it can dial the production of EVs and PHEVs up or down.” The article also notes that according to Autocar the J-Pace will likely be offered at some point with a conventional gas engine. “That speaks volumes about the company’s long-term commitment to zero-emission vehicles,” says Electrek. And I don’t think they mean that in a good way.
Photos: Jaguar Land Rover