All new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles will be electric from 2020, the luxury carmaker has revealed.
Like a growing number of its rivals, JLR has joined the electric vehicle race with plans to release for sale, in a year’s time, its Jaguar I-PACE sports car now being built at production facilities in Austria.
The manufacturer did not say when it would be ending production of petrol or diesel-only vehicles entirely.
Image: The iconic Jaguar E-Type is now electrified for the 21st century
The announcement comes two months after Volvo said all its models will have an electric motor two years from now – so they will either be pure electric cars or hybrids that combine electric and conventional engines.
Three weeks later, the Government confirmed plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars in the UK from 2040 – with the aim of getting them off the roads altogether by 2050.
Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of JLR, said the move towards electric cars would give customers “even more choice”.
“We will introduce a portfolio of electrified products across our model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles,” he said, announcing the switch to electric at the carmaker’s inaugural Tech Fest in London.
Image: Volvo said in July its cars are to be electric or hybrid from 2019
It comes after the company, which employs 40,000 people worldwide, said in June that it would be hiring 5,000 workers over the next year as it shifts more towards electric vehicle technology.
JLR said it was hunting “the next generation of world-class electronics and software engineering talent” through the creation of 1,000 new roles.
They will be recruited through an app in partnership with the Grammy award-winning band Gorillaz, which includes a code-breaking challenge.
The other 4,000 new jobs created include manufacturing positions – the majority of all the jobs being in the UK.
Source: Sky