Jaguar – Land Rover is reportedly planning to jump on the EV bandwagon before the end of the decade.
Company executives have not yet decided whether the upcoming EV will be introduced as a Jaguar or as a Land Rover. German magazine Auto, Motor Und Sport says that the former is likely for marketing reasons, fueling speculation that the EV will be based on Jaguar’s upcoming F-Pace.
Regardless of which emblem it ends up wearing, the EV will take the form of a relatively large SUV or crossover because those body styles offer more space to fit electric-specific components like a bulky battery pack. The project is still at the embryonic stage of development so technical details such as how much power the drivetrain will generate and what kind of battery pack will be used to store electricity are not available.
The idea of introducing a battery-powered vehicle isn’t new at JLR. Two years ago, the company designed and built an experimental Defender (pictured) that was powered by an electric motor rated at 94 horsepower and a healthy 243 lb-ft. of torque. Seven examples were built, and testing surprisingly revealed that the eco-friendly Defender boasted roughly the same off-road capacity as its diesel-burning counterpart.
If the rumor turns out to be true, Jaguar – Land Rover’s first full-production electric vehicle will go on sale across the globe by 2018. The model will be preceded by JLR’s first plug-in hybrid, which is expected to land in showrooms by 2017.
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