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What does JLR’s announcement mean for EVs?

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“Electric” isn’t the first thing most people will think of when they hear the name Jaguar, but Jaguar Land Rover joining Audi, DS, and Renault as car manufacturers in Formula E marks the start the brand’s journey into fully electric vehicles.

News that JLR will be moving into the electric vehicle market, with a “portfolio” of electric vehicles, is a sign of the change in attitude to EVs.

“Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover’s future product portfolio,” Group Engineering Director Nick Rodgers said.

“It is my belief that over the next five years we will see more changes in the automotive world than in the last three decades. The future is about being more connected and more sustainable; electrification and lightweight technologies are becoming more important than ever as urbanisation continues to increase.”

The work on track will develop the technology that we’ll see in Jaguar Land Rover road vehicles in the future.

Gone are the days when we see hybrid cars as something only tree-hugging hippies would buy. Now we see the likes of Lexus and Porsche on the hybrid car market. Upmarket brands have changed the image of hybrid cars and Jaguar Land Rover could be just the manufacturer to do the same for electric cars.

But JLR are playing catch up, not only in Formula E but in the electric car market. JLR’s Formula E neighbour, Audi, already launched its e-tron concept, and sales of the BMW i3 began in 2013.

“It’s overdue,” said Professor David Bailey, an automotive expert at Aston University. “The firm’s focus thus far has been on more efficient engines and hybrids and in serious lightweighting of its cars – using aluminium – to get CO2 emissions down. But that’s not enough.”

“Premium makers are now rushing to get cars to market that can compete with the likes of the Tesla Model S – witness the Porsche Mission E concept. BMW is already there, of course, with the i3 and i8. Volvo, JLR’s former sister firm at Ford’s Premium Auto Group, has said that it will market an EV by 2019.”

No time scale was given for when JLR would enter the EV market, but with the company’s growth on a high, and the industry’s focus turning to the electric world, we can be sure it will be soon.

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Image courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover

Audi image created by Sébastien Rondet used under Creative Commons

BMW image created by Abehn used under Creative Commons

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