Jaguar Land Rover Has Big Plans for the Near-Term Future
The company is reducing its number of platforms as it aims to go hugely electric by 2030.
Jaguar Land Rover is embarking on a massive $19 billion overhaul of its business that will see the company offer EV versions of every single model it sells by 2030 and push toward a target of selling nothing but zero-tailpipe-emissions vehicles by 2036.
As part of this sweeping strategic reset, JLR is cutting its number of vehicle platforms from seven to three, and it's reorganizing the Land Rover marque into three new brand families : Range Rover, Discovery, and Defender, each with its own unique models and retail environments. The Land Rover brand will become a lower-profile "trustmark" denoting SUVs with superior off-road capability. The Jaguar division will be EV only, and it will push upmarket with a focus on fast, luxurious, extravagantly proportioned coupes and sports cars.
Not So Controversial
Downplaying the Land Rover name isn't as controversial a move as it might seem, JLR chief creative officer Gerry McGovern says: "The reality is Range Rover is already a brand. People tell us they drive a Range Rover, not a Land Rover. We love the Land Rover name, but it doesn't have as much equity as Range Rover, and Defender is rising fast."
McGovern says all four brands will have their own unique interpretation of the modern luxury aesthetic that's proven so successful with the existing Range Rover and Defender lineups: "Range Rover is refined modernism, Defender is brutalist modernism, Discovery is eclectic modernism, and Jaguar is exuberant modernism."
Three Platforms for the Future
The three platform architectures underpinning new Range Rover, Discovery, Defender, and Jaguar models into the next decade are code-named MLA-Flex, EMA, and JEA. MLA-Flex debuted under the current L460 Range Rover, and it now also underpins the L461 Range Rover Sport. The next-generation Discovery and Defender models will also move on to MLA-Flex, which was designed from the outset to accommodate ICE, PHEV, and EV powertrains.
Like MLA-Flex, EMA was originally intended to be a convergence platform for JLR's compact SUVs, capable of packaging either a PHEV powertrain with a conventional transverse-mounted ICE or a pure EV powertrain. However, EMA will now be EV-only, underpinning the Range Rover Evoque EV, the Discovery Sport EV, and the long-rumored baby Defender EV.
Three New Jags By 2030
The new JEA architecture is for Jaguar only and was developed specifically to deliver the low ride height, low seating position, and extravagant proportions JLR believes will set Jaguars apart from other performance/luxury EVs. It will underpin at least three all-new Jaguars scheduled for launch by 2030.
Here are some of the key future cars coming from JLR:
2025 Jaguar GT
Due in 2025, the Jaguar GT's dramatic design will set the tone for the marque's radical reinvention. "Forget everything that has gone before," McGovern says. The all-wheel-drive GT will also allegedly be the most powerful production Jaguar ever built, which suggests its two electric motors will produce well above 600 hp. Improvements in battery chemistry and powertrain efficiency mean the GT will have a range of about 430 miles on the European WLTP cycle, and it will be able to add 200 miles of range from a 15-minute charge.
2025 Range Rover EV
Available at the end of 2024, the Range Rover EV will offer a combination of on-road smoothness, refinement, and performance not seen in any previous Range Rover, but insiders insist its legendary off-road capability has not been compromised. The Range Rover EV will obviously have motors at the front and rear axles to provide all-wheel drive. It will also boast a waterproof battery, sophisticated drive control to adjust accelerator inputs and torque outputs to improve traction on different surfaces, a height-adjustable air suspension, and low range.
2025 Range Rover Evoque EV
The Evoque EV is likely the first vehicle to appear on the new EMA platform architecture. JLR hasn't released specific details about EMA; however, it is likely to be available in single- and dual-motor formats to provide for electric equivalents of the entry-level front-drive Range Rover Evoque sold in other markets. Crucially, EMA is designed to accommodate any battery chemistry, which means it could be fitted with more energy-dense, faster-charging, and lower-cost solid-state batteries by the end of the decade.
2026 Discovery EV
The original Discovery, launched in 1989, was the first "market research" Land Rover, and it became one of the company's most popular models ever, with total sales topping 1 million units by 2012. The fifth-generation Discovery has been less of a success, however, partly because of its dumpy styling, which will be revamped dramatically with the launch of the sixth-generation model, based on the MLA-Flex platform. The new Discovery EV will share its off-road technologies with the Range Rover EV, though its dual motors will likely produce less power and torque.
2030 Defender EV
Although it will share its platform with the Range Rover and Discovery EVs, the Defender's hardware will be tuned for extreme off-road capability, with added protection for the battery and suspension pieces. Height-adjustable air suspension will be standard, along with a low-range mode for slow-speed crawling in difficult terrain. To ensure JLR meets its 2036 zero-tailpipe-emissions target, engineers are at work testing a fuel cell prototype because EV charging can be difficult in rough and remote territory. However, no decision has been made on production just yet.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by cars. My father was a mechanic, and some of my earliest memories are of handing him wrenches as he worked to turn a succession of down-at-heel secondhand cars into reliable family transportation. Later, when I was about 12, I’d be allowed to back the Valiant station wagon out onto the street and drive it around to the front of the house to wash it. We had the cleanest Valiant in the world.
I got my driver’s license exactly three months after my 16th birthday in a Series II Land Rover, ex-Australian Army with no synchro on first or second and about a million miles on the clock. “Pass your test in that,” said Dad, “and you’ll be able to drive anything.” He was right. Nearly four decades later I’ve driven everything from a Bugatti Veyron to a Volvo 18-wheeler, on roads and tracks all over the world. Very few people get the opportunity to parlay their passion into a career. I’m one of those fortunate few.
I started editing my local car club magazine, partly because no-one else would do it, and partly because I’d sold my rally car to get the deposit for my first house, and wanted to stay involved in the sport. Then one day someone handed me a free local sports paper and said they might want car stuff in it. I rang the editor and to my surprise she said yes. There was no pay, but I did get press passes, which meant I got into the races for free. And meet real automotive journalists in the pressroom. And watch and learn.
It’s been a helluva ride ever since. I’ve written about everything from Formula 1 to Sprint Car racing; from new cars and trucks to wild street machines and multi-million dollar classics; from global industry trends to secondhand car dealers. I’ve done automotive TV shows and radio shows, and helped create automotive websites, iMags and mobile apps. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of leading automotive media brands in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The longer I’m in this business the more astonished I am these fiendishly complicated devices we call automobiles get made at all, and how accomplished they have become at doing what they’re designed to do. I believe all new cars should be great, and I’m disappointed when they’re not. Over the years I’ve come to realize cars are the result of a complex interaction of people, politics and process, which is why they’re all different. And why they continue to fascinate me.Read More
