Jaguar Land Rover is planning to reveal its first electrical vehicle in a move that will put it on course to gatecrash the motor market’s green revolution.
The Tata-owned UK-based Jaguar Land Rover is understood to be excited to enter the growing market, as well as minimize its emissions footprint to prevent punitive green taxes.
It is believed the new electric vehicle– anticipated to be in the “crossover” section, where a vehicle and an SUV meet– could be revealed as quickly as this week, with the Los Angeles show, said by some as a possible venue.
JLR is Britain’s most significant automaker, with over 500,000 automobiles rolling off its production lines in the UK every year, 80% of them are exported.
The automaker’s predicted entryway into electrical automobiles is likely to be from its Jaguar marque, after the success of its F-Pace crossover.
Ian Fletcher, principal expert at IHS Automotive, stated: “Crossovers are the fastest growing market so I think we can anticipate Jaguar to be looking there.”
In 2015 JLR indicated its interest in electrical vehicles, stating it was getting in the Formula E electric car championship, with the single-seat automobiles viewed as a proving ground for new technology.
Nevertheless, the company has been tight-lipped about its prepare for electrical road-going cars and trucks, stating just it “is devoted to introducing electrification” and has “interesting model plans”.
However industry experts are convinced JLR needs to release its car soon.
“No manufacturer can afford to be left behind,” stated Phil Harrold, automotive partner at PwC. “Not only will it be commercially important, but the emissions will be too.”
Even Volkswagen group, the champ of “tidy” diesels up until the emissions scandal swallowed up the company, is now investing billions in the innovation having mostly ignored it previously.
JLR is likewise under pressure to cut the CO2 emissions from its cars. EU policies say by 2020 JLR needs to cut by 45pc the emissions that its fleet emits entirely, compared to the 2007 level.
Failure to do so will lead to charges of EUR5 per vehicle for the first g/km that surpasses this level, EUR15 for the 2nd, EUR25 for the third and EUR95 for every subsequent g/km.
