JLR has announced that it will invest £15 billion ($18.6 billion) over the next five years to roll out the next phase of Reimagine – its corporate electrification strategy. While the company has not yet revealed how the investment will be split across its business, it did confirm that the money will support its industrial footprint and vehicle programs as well as its autonomous, AI, and digital technologies.
In working to accelerate the strategy’s original vision, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2039 and making Jaguar an all-electric brand by 2025, Reimagine’s next phase will see JLR convert its Halewood plant in Merseyside, England into an all-electric production facility. The electrification of its key facilities extends further to its Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, which currently produces internal combustion engines for its vehicles. While a timeframe for this conversion has not yet been provided, this work will see the facility begin producing electric drive units and battery packs for JLR’s next-generation EVs. In reflecting its new purpose, the Wolverhampton facility will be renamed to the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre.
Another key focus of the plan is on the development of JLR’s EV architecture. Here, the company announced that its electrified modular architecture (EMA) will become a pure-electric platform, a move made in response to the growing number of markets embracing electrification. While making EMA an exclusively electric platform, JLR will continue to use its flexible modular longitudinal architecture (MLA). This platform, which allows for ICE, hybrid, and BEV options, is already used in the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.
JLR’s electrification developments will ultimately lead to the introduction of new EVs, with all-new electric models announced from both the Range Rover and Jaguar brands. The new Range Rover represents the brand’s first EV and is currently targeting a 2025 launch after it enters production at the Halewood plant. The new Jaguar EV is confirmed to be a four-door GT model and is the first of three ‘reimagined’ models from the brand. Built in Solihull, an English town in the West Midlands, the EV will leverage a unique architecture called JEA – which JLR says will provide it with a 430-mile (692-kilometer) range and the highest power rating of any Jaguar model to date. JLR is expecting the vehicle to begin sales in select markets in 2024, with indicative pricing from £100,000 ($124,581), before client deliveries begin in 2025.
Beyond electrification, the next phase of Reimagine also incorporates a new approach to the company’s corporate branding called House of Brands. Through it, the company will work to amplify the individual characteristics of its vehicle brands. In doing so, the corporate Jaguar Land Rover title will become JLR, while Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar will each serve as distinct brands under the JLR umbrella.
