All-electric Jaguar and Land Rover products are 'on the agenda'

An all-electric Jaguar or Land Rover is ‘on the agenda’ of according to the firm’s director of group engineering, Dr Wolfgang Ziebart.

‘It is definitely under consideration,’ said Ziebart. ‘We have all the technology available to do an electric vehicle, but the key is discovering when there is a business case to support such a decision.’
However, Ziebart cautioned that the firm would first increase the number of plug-in hybrid vehicles it makes, and that an all-electric vehicle would only be made when there was an economic case for it.

Ziebart added that the type of vehicle that would suit electrification may not be in JLR’s portfolio at present, either. ‘The Tesla has shown that there is a case for larger vehicles, but in most markets the demand for electric cars is around smaller vehicles most suitable for cities,’ he said.

Despite this, Ziebart cautioned that launching smaller vehicles may not be the solution, however. ‘Smaller cars tend to be sold more cheaply, meaning you can’t put sophisticated technology on them,’ he said. ‘The situation around electrification is being dictated by regulatory demands rather than customer requirements at present, but when the time is right we will be there.’