Jaguar Land Rover has announced its leadership of an advanced powertrain research and development programme for state-of-the-art, next-generation hybrid and battery-electric powertrain technologies based on the Range Rover Evoque platform.
‘Evoque_e’ is a two-year £16.3 million UK government Technology Strategy Board project. Land Rover will contribute £4 million to the project and will lead a consortium of 12 selected partners. Land Rover’s companions include Zytek Automotive, GKN Driveline, Electric motor Style Limited, AVL, Drive System Design, Williams Advanced Engineering, Delta Motorsport, Tata Steel, Bristol College, Cranfield College, and Newcastle University.
The unique collaboration will design, develop and build three research vehicles showcasing state-of-the-art, next-generation powertrain concepts for three hybrids: a mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV); a Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) and a full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV).
The 2014 Range Rover hybrids share the same powertrain that includes a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 and a 35-kW electric motor. Land Rover says the hybrids are rated at about 37.7 mpg and are just as off-road capable as the non-hybrid models. Both are set to launch in Europe early next year, but Land Rover says it won’t sell them in the U.S. because making the diesel engines emissions compliant would be too expensive.
Peter Richings, Director of Hybrids and Electrification, said: “The aim of the project is to develop platforms which are compatible within the architecture of an existing production vehicle.” The technologies include single and multi-speed axle drives, modular battery packs and power electronics. The research groups will certainly check out just how the speed of the electric motor could be increased, to minimize its dimension, weight and expense while enhancing ability and longevity. We will additionally take a look at the use of alternate products to reduce the use of unusual and rare earth products, and for systems optimization.
As Britain’s largest financier in automotive research and development, and the biggest financier in manufacturing R&D, Jaguar Land Rover is investing 2.75 billion on product creation. Land Rover showcased a number of the various other collective study jobs it is leading at the LCV 2013 event. These jobs consist of the downsizing of internal burning engines, reliable administration and storage of heat energies and weight decrease of engines through innovative new style ideas.
Discussing these research tasks, Dr Wolfgang Epple, Jaguar Land Rover Director Research and Technology claimed: “Land Rover has eager prepare for development. We think that the excellence of our worldwide company– and the UK economy– lies in engineering and advancement. Our research programs combine several of the very best engineering thoughts in the UK. With Evoque_e, we will certainly build on previous Land Rover technology demonstrators and show clearly the breadth of our capacity and dedication in sophisticated powertrain technology.”
Jaguar Land Rover currently collaborates with a variety of leading colleges in the UK on a range of innovation and skills tasks. More than half of Jaguar Land Rover’s research and progressed engineering group are based at Warwick College’s Warwick Manufacturing Team (WMG), to function collaboratively on vital new technologies consisting of power storage space, weight reduction and electronic confirmation.
Antony Harper, Jaguar Land Rover Head of Research, highlighted the value of this work and its benefits to the firm and the UK economy, claiming:
“The development of our business and our investment in R&D has likewise motivated inward financial investment into the UK, with our vendors making and moneying their own study projects in UK universities. ISB financing enables us to increase the result of our financial investment and nurture UK-based technology, in assisting our work to deal with future needs, wishes and regulation around the world.”
