British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is leading a GBP16.3m advanced powertrain research and development program, Evoque_e, for the development of next-generation hybrid and battery-electric powertrain technologies based on the Range Rover Evoque platform.
Evoque_e is a two-year project supported by the UK's government agency, Technology Strategy Board. Jaguar Land Rover, which will contribute GBP4m towards the project, will lead 12 selected partners including eight from the industry and three universities.
The partners include Zytek Automotive, GKN Driveline, Motor Design Limited, AVL, Drive System Design, Williams Advanced Engineering, Delta Motorsport, Tata Steel, Bristol University, Cranfield University and Newcastle University.
This new project, which will begin in October 2013, will design, develop and build three research vehicles, mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV); a Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV); and a full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), using next-generation powertrain concepts.
Jaguar Land Rover hybrids and electrification director Peter Richings said that the aim of the project is to develop technology platforms which are configurable and compatible within the architecture of an existing production vehicle.
"The modular technologies include single and multi-speed axle drives; modular battery packs and integrated power electronics, multi-machine, advanced control development and torque vectoring," Richings added.
"The research teams will look at how the speed of the electric motor can be increased, to reduce its size, weight and cost while enhancing performance and durability.
"We will also look at the use of alternative materials to both reduce the use of rare earth materials and for systems optimization.
"The outcome of the Evoque_e project will be new technologies with the potential for high volume production that are capable of delivering benchmark performance in terms of cost, weight and sustainable use of materials."
Besides this project, Jaguar is also investing GBP2.75bn from this year to March 2014 on product development.
