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JLR plans to build its electric cars in the UK
25th November 2016
According to an article in The Telegraph today, Jaguar land Rover intend to build their electric cars in the UK. The newspaper goes on to say:
"Jaguar Land Rover hopes to build and design electric cars in the UK - potentially creating thousands of jobs in and around its Coventry base.
Chief executive Ralf Speth confirmed the company’s aim of doubling its output to 1m cars by 2020 and said production of electric vehicles in Britain would be a vital part of this. The car boss has previously said that designing and engineering its vehicles in the UK is a vital part of the company’s heritage, although JLR is opening new factories around the world to meet demand.
Speaking at an event at Warwick University on Thursday night, Mr Speth said he also wanted to make Britain a global centre for battery research and development to power electric vehicles.
Last week JLR launched its first ever electric car, the I-Pace, at the Los Angeles motor show. Although the company described the I-Pace as a concept car, it said a production version would be revealed in 2017, with the car hitting the road in 2018.
The company - which currently has 40,000 UK staff - declined to put a number on how many employees would be added by producing electric vehicles in Britain.
However, with the company having pledged to make half its cars available with electric propulsion, it is likely to be a significant number.
The I-Pace will be built under contract by Magna Steyr in Austria initially, but it is thought that new facilities would be needed in Britain to meet future demand.
JLR declined to put a timeframe on the move, saying it was a “vision, rather than a plan”.
Hurdles in the way of JLR fulfilling its electric dream for the UK include overcoming what it termed as “infrastructure and capacity issues”. However, a source close to the company said it had been encouraged by measures set out in the Autumn Statement to improve the UK’s productivity.
Also announced in the Autumn Statement was £390m of funding for the automotive sector to encourage development of low-emission battery vehicles and technology, as well as development of driverless cars".