Jaguar Land Rover receives a loan of 550 million euros for electric cars

Jaguar Land Rover receives a loan of 550 million euros for electric cars from the British Government with the aim of accelerating the development of electric cars in the country. During a meeting with industry leaders, British Prime Minister Theresa May assured that the funding for Jaguar Land Rover would include 500 million pounds sterling along with another 125 million pounds from commercial lenders, as reported by The Guardian.

The British carmaker has just recently announced its plans to produce a new range of electrified vehicles to be manufactured at its Castle Bromwich plant, which includes the latest generation of the fully electric Jaguar XJ.

The future electric vehicles of Jaguar Land Rover will be based on the MLA platform and will feature a 90.2 kWh battery pack, enabling them to travel up to 470 kilometres on a full charge. The plug-in hybrid models will have a 13.1 kWh battery and a fully electric range of up to 50 kilometres.

The country’s largest carmaker will make a major investment in its factory, planning to offer the electrified version of all its models by 2020. The factory upgrade will include a new Battery Assembly Centre that will be operational in 2020 with a capacity of up to 150,000 units per year.

Jaguar Land Rover receives an economic boost for its electric cars

The investment in Jaguar Land Rover will protect at least 2,500 jobs locally, which is good news, especially for a company that earlier this year announced it would cut 4,500 jobs worldwide.

Theresa May met with senior executives from Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, BMW, Nissan and the PSA Group, and told them that the government has set a series of commitments to increase the number of electric vehicles on UK roads. These include mandatory electric car charging points in all newly built homes.

Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, stated that “the future of mobility is electric and, as a visionary British company, we are committed to manufacturing our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the UK”. The Castle Bromwich plant – where the petrol and diesel models of the Jaguar XJ, which will cease production, have been assembled until now – will become the “UK’s first electrified premium vehicle plant”.

Speth added that “convenience and affordability are the two key factors in driving electric car use to the levels we all need. Charging must be as easy as refuelling a conventional vehicle”.

“Affordability will only be achieved if we make batteries here in the UK, close to vehicle production, to avoid the cost and safety risk of importing from abroad,” Speth said, adding that the UK has the raw materials, the scientific research in our universities and a supplier base to “place the country at the forefront of mobility and job creation”.