Jaguar to switch to fully electric vehicle portfolio by 2025

Pictured: Jaguar's only pure electric car to date

Announced today by JLR’s chief executive Thierry Bollore in the first public statement since he took up the role last summer, the ‘Reimagine’ strategy has been dubbed “a sustainability-rich reimagination of modern luxury, unique customer experiences and positive societal impact”.

The headline commitment for changing JLR’s business model and environmental impact is to cease production of all vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) by the Jaguar brand by 2025.

Jaguar currently only produces one fully-electric model – the I-Pace SUV. This vehicle is manufactured in Austria by a contractor. Bollore admitted that JLR will need to do more to build in-house expertise and change manufacturing lines to meet the new target.

Land Rover, meanwhile, will stop producing ICE vehicles for sale in the UK by 2030, in line with the Government’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars, and will stop producing them globally by 2036. Land Rover will also launch six new pure electric cars in the next five years. 

JLR is planning to invest £2.5bn every year through to 2030 in R&D relating to electric and low-emission vehicles under ‘Reimagine’. Specific areas of focus include improving battery technology, scaling up hydrogen fuel cells and producing lighter-weight electric vehicles (EVs).

The company will also explore the possibilities of launching new service-based brands in the clean energy services space, Bollore said. Several other major carmakers have launched services such as EV charging and electricity provision, including Volkswagen (VW).

Many automakers were already planning to offer only pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles in the UK by 2030, including Bentley and Honda. Others want the Government to do more to help businesses pivot their design processes and manufacturing lines. Among them are Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen, which signed a tie-up agreement last month.

Broader net-zero commitment

Vehicle use is one of JLR’s major sources of emissions – as it is for all major carmakers in the ICE space.

But ‘Reimagine’ recognises that the business has significant climate impacts elsewhere and contains a commitment to reach net-zero across operations and the supply chain, as well as products, by 2039.

JLR’s previous ‘Destination Zero’ business and sustainability strategy envisioned a world with no transport emissions, no automotive accidents and no congestion. However, it stopped short of setting time-bound, numerical climate targets for different parts of the business. JLR is expected to outline new interim targets for key focus areas in the coming months.

Bollore confirmed that JLR is not planning to close any of its major manufacturing plants to meet its new targets. However, he did say that the firm will need to “substantially reduce and rationalise” non-manufacturing infrastructure in the UK, due to the compound impacts of Covid-19 and the business model shift. Moreover, the Castle Bromwich plant will not be fitted with EV manufacturing lines and will be consolidated with other nearby JLR locations this decade.

Sarah George

Comments (1)

  1. Daniel Scharf says:

    The increase in EVs will place a huge demand on the electricity grid and for en-route re-charging. A 50mph national speed limit would reduce this demand and range anxiety as this is the top of the optimal range for current EV models. A 50mph limit would reduce or remove the comparative advantage of ICEs thereby making EVs (and 60mph coaches) even more popular and increasing the pressures on recharging (points and electricity). It would also make the smaller (and more efficient) of JLRs six models more attractive.

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