Speaking at the British Embassy’s Advanced Engineering Automotive and Aerospace Summit, Peter Richings, director, hybrids and electrification at Jaguar Land Rover said its research to date had been focused on creating expertise in low-carbon vehicles within the UK supply chain, with the aim of attracting further investment.

On display at Lancaster House was the XJ_e, a plug-in hybrid based on the Jaguar XJ which was developed in partnership with UK component manufacturers. Offering a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions with no performance sacrifice, it follows similar project such as the Limo Green and Range_e (Click here for a road test)which were also developed by JLR’s UK automotive partners.

‘Working in collaboration with other major vehicle manufacturers, Jaguar Land Rover has helped to lay the foundations to create a robust and globally competitive UK supply base to support the development of future green technologies, as well as deliver three ground-breaking new demonstrator concepts,’ Richings told delegates at the summit.

‘With 240 engineers, we have the largest electric and hybrid engineering team in the UK and we believe that our work in this area, combined with the support of the TSB, will continue to drive forward innovation in green technologies.’

 Jaguar Land Rover has already hinted that the 2013 Range Rover will debut its first hybrid drivetrain, but said it was unlikely to be a plug-in model like the Sport-based Range_e. A production XJ hybrid is also under development, which will put the carmaker in competition with hybrid luxury models from BMW and Lexus.