Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive business. It forms a vital part of the country’s manufacturing economy, thanks to the high-value products it exports overseas.
Now, ever-greater numbers of those luxury vehicles are going to be electric, as the company commits to a sustainable journey that will ultimately see it become fully carbon-neutral by 2039.
We’ll see the first pure electric Land Rover in 2024. Jaguar will become an entirely electric brand – just like Tesla – in 2025. The last diesel-engined JLR car will be produced by 2026.
The strategy, called Reimagine and presented by new CEO Thierry Bollore, is a landmark in the evolution of the luxury car firm. And one perfectly in line with the UK government’s ambitions.
By 2030, new sales of regular petrol and diesel-engined vehicles will be banned. By 2035, hybrids will follow suit, making the new car marketplace 100 percent zero emissions.
Given its volumes, JLR’s announcement today is the biggest strategic development in support of that goal to date.
UK EV – and hydrogen
Even though ‘only’ six in 10 Land Rovers will be pure electric by 2030, that still leaves another half-decade to develop the solution for the rest. Mr Bollore predicts the firm will be almost zero-ICE by 2036.
And here too, JLR is saying things the country’s leaders will like: the development of fuel cell technology, with prototypes beginning testing on UK roads within the next year.
So, even if battery technology isn’t quite suitable for big, heavy Range Rovers by then, fuel cell tech might be. And in post-Brexit Britain, it’s potentially another homegrown tech good news story.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, welcomed the news as an injection of confidence into the wider sector.
“Its roadmap to a future that is built around sustainability, with electrified and hydrogen models as well as investment in connected and digital technologies, aligns with government ambition and increasing consumer expectations.
He did, however, caution that the UK needs to improve its competitiveness.
“The UK automotive industry is essentially strong, innovative and agile, but the global competition is fierce.
Government must ensure advanced manufacturing has its full support, with a policy framework and plan for growth that reduces costs, accelerates domestic battery production and electrified supply chains, and incentivises R&D and skills development.
“Every effort must be made to create the conditions that will enable the entire sector to flourish.”
In other words, Jaguar Land Rover is doing its bit to drive your strategy, ministers. Time to repay this vote of confidence with all the support JLR, and UK automotive, needs to succeed.
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