Green light for Jaguar Land Rover's electric car programme

The new Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E team will kick-start a whole new product offensive based around electrification.

Speaking to Auto Express, at the launch of the I-TYPE racer JLR engineering boss Nick Rogers said: “The race team is a key part of our product development and will have full access to all of our engineering and test facilities.”

Rogers also confirmed that it won’t be long before we see a direct link from the technology seen on the race car to Jaguars and Land Rovers on the road. “Control systems, ECUs and energy recovery tech is all something that we’ll learn from on the race track,” he said, adding “It won’t be long before we can talk more about electrification.”

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Jaguar is expected to show it’s first all-electric car in the not too distant future, while plug-in diesel/electric hybrids have also been seen testing near JLR’s engineering base in the Midlands.

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And with Panasonic named as the race team’s title sponsor, it’s likely that the Japanese firm is already in discussions with JLR about greater road car collaboration, especially on battery technology. JLR has yet to announce who its battery partner will be for its electric vehicle programme, while Panasonic’s automotive division is already a supplier to the company.

Although Jaguar won’t reveal the cost of its Formula E programme, Rogers did say that he felt it was good value. “It’s not an obscene amount of money and it’s money we’re spending on technical development otherwise,” he said.  “It’s also inspiring a new generation of engineers within JLR.”

What do you think of Jaguar Land Rover's plans? Are you looking forward to seeing Jaguar in Formula E? Leave us a comment below!