“From 2020 all our new vehicles will be electrified, giving our customers more choice. We will introduce a portfolio of electrified vehicles across our model range, embracing fully electric, plug-in hybrid, and mild hybrid cars and SUVs,” affirmed Jaguar – Land Rover boss Dr. Ralf Speth while speaking at the first JLR Tech Fest in London, England.
The decision to put a battery pack in every new car applies to both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. It’s crucially important not to confuse electrified and electric, however. Customers will still be able to buy a Jaguar or a Land Rover with a gasoline- or diesel-burning internal combustion engine after 2020, but it will also come with an on-board electric motor to help improve gas mileage and reduce exhaust emissions. Rival Volvo made a similar announcement in July, though it’s aiming for 2019 as the tipping point.
Jaguar’s first all-electric car will be the production version of the I-Pace concept shown last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Speth confirmed the crossover will arrive in showrooms next year, meaning it will probably be branded a 2019 model. When it lands, it will be the Tesla Model X‘s first direct rival, and the first of an array of so-called Tesla killers from mainstream luxury brands. Rumors indicate Jaguar’s range-topping XJ will go electric when it gets replaced around the turn of the decade, but executives haven’t spoken about product plans beyond the I-Pace.
Looking beyond 2020, Speth believes the automotive industry’s shift towards electrification and autonomy will have far-reaching effects.
“Changes in mobility, changes in technology will change the geopolitical map of the world,” Speth predicted. To illustrate his point, he pointed out that the price of common goods could fall as autonomy spreads across the freight industry and lowers the price of transporting goods across a continent. Reduced demand for foreign oil, meanwhile, could lower the price of a barrel to about $25, and make oil-rich nations less powerful.
“The opportunities are great,” he concluded. “At Jaguar – Land Rover our journey has already started.”
