Autocar reports:
Jaguar Land Rover bosses are considering a plan to turn Jaguar into an EV-only brand within the next decade, Autocar has learned.
It is understood that company product planners have produced an outline strategy under which Jaguar's conventional vehicle range would be phased out over the next five to seven years, to be replaced by pure-electric vehicles.
Jaguar Land Rover bosses are considering a plan to turn Jaguar into an EV-only brand within the next decade, Autocar has learned.
It is understood that company product planners have produced an outline strategy under which Jaguar's conventional vehicle range would be phased out over the next five to seven years, to be replaced by fully electric vehicles.
Under the plans being considered, a full-on luxury electric saloon, replacing the unloved XJ, is expected within two years. It will be a direct competitor for Porsche's upcoming Taycan, alongside strong-selling cars such as the Tesla Model S.
Rethought as an electric vehicle, the new XJ will both play to the strengths of the 1967 original by offering segment-leading refinement and ride and look to the future by completely reinventing the classic Jaguar interior.
It is understood that the new XJ will be a no-holds-barred luxury car in every sense, offering customers a zero-pollution alternative to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or even a Bentley Flying Spur.
(Score: 5, Funny) by VLM on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:07PM (11 children)
How they gonna get it to leak oil? Gonna put an electric powered french fry fryer in that sucker?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Unixnut on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:19PM (7 children)
I am sure they can engineer the electric motors to leak out oil (after all, they do need lubricating oil, just like most other pieces of machinery).
Saying that, it wasn't a Jaguar specific things. All British cars liked to leave patches of lubricant where they have been. Always used to joke that they were just marking out their territory.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:31PM (5 children)
That's a job for Lucas to build an electric motor that leaks oil.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @10:50PM (4 children)
Lucas who?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @11:28PM (3 children)
probably Lucas Industries [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @11:58PM (2 children)
Lucas "The Prince of Darkness". You obviously never owned a British car.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:29AM (1 child)
You've got me pegged there. Everything I know about British cars I learned from Top Gear/Grand Tour.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @04:00AM
You can't learn anything of importance from Top Gear, it's all entertainment and ego. Yes, it's funny, but if you want to learn about classic British motor vehicles you need to own a few (including motorcycles).
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday October 18 2018, @09:18AM
That's how British teams win all the grand prix (you know, the car races that require you to steer the other way). The other cars keep skidding off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:10PM (1 child)
I was going to suggest an electric oil pump, but perhaps that's too obvious?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday October 17 2018, @07:11PM
Would an oil pump dedicated to spills be considered a zero-emission defeat device ?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday October 17 2018, @09:21PM
Yup! They'll add one of those ... wait, oh no! [consumerreports.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:29PM
Could definitely use one of those, with blackjack and hookers
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 4, Touché) by NateMich on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:34PM (3 children)
Jaguar Land Rover bosses are considering a plan to turn Jaguar into an EV-only brand within the next decade, Autocar has learned.
You really have thank Tesla for paving the way for this.
Also, since it apparently needs to be said more than once, Jaguar Land Rover bosses are considering a plan to turn Jaguar into an EV-only brand within the next decade, Autocar has learned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:49PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:11PM (1 child)
Conspiciously missing from the tfa, is that Jaguar's bosses are Indians, who don't make Jaguar in India.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:19PM
Stop being racist sir.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @04:43PM (2 children)
Weren't the early James Bond cars Jaguars? Maybe an environmentally considerate James Bond can switch to a Jaguar EV?
(Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday October 17 2018, @04:47PM (1 child)
*Aston Martin
Most James Bond car chases are only 5 minutes long, a sweet spot for an EV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @10:57PM
And, coincidentally, the maximum amount of time a Jaguar can run before needing a visit to the mechanic.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bootsy on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:15PM (2 children)
Jaguar and JLR group as a whole bet heavily on diesel and lost. Petrol Land Rovers and Jaguars eat through fuel and, with European levels of fuel duty, are basically uneconomical to run.
With the recent flight from diesel over concerns of NO2 levels and particulates they are very exposed.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @06:10PM (1 child)
No, 15 years ago governments were telling people to buy diesel, still the case in 2008 when Tata bought them.
Few people who need one of these vehicles (Land Rover, Range Rover) opt for a petrol engine.
Limited to concerns over resale value of vehicles from before 2015. [standard.co.uk] There's no choice but diesel if you're doing 40,000+ miles a year.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday October 17 2018, @07:33PM
Some google search claimed 261 work days per year so thats 150 miles round trip commute... unless you're using your Jag to Uber or deliver amazon packages.
(Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Wednesday October 17 2018, @08:43PM
Morning Eds. Looks like a slight whoopsie daisy here in the summary:
I haven't had coffee yet, but this gave me a slight "Fuck, I thought I jsut read that.... fuck, I thought I just read that again!"
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday October 17 2018, @09:25PM (7 children)
I remember someone on the green site (or maybe it was here) that if all cars went EV, there wouldn't be nearly enough Lithium to meet the demand. I don't know what the factor is, but if Jag-ewe-wire is getting a head start, could they start profiting by buying lithium futures to resell to the other auto manufacturers coming in later to the game?
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday October 17 2018, @11:04PM (2 children)
> I don't know what the factor is, but if Jag-ewe-wire is getting a head start, could they start profiting by buying lithium futures to resell to the other auto manufacturers coming in later to the game?
That is more something for investment banks and hedge funds to do, but yes they could. There are a lot of people pushing for EV precisely because they bought futures in lithium, cobalt and other rare earth materials (or invested in the mines that dig them out of the ground). They are now pushing it for all its worth, hoping for a big windfall down the line (and damn the environmental destruction).
> I remember someone on the green site (or maybe it was here) that if all cars went EV, there wouldn't be nearly enough Lithium to meet the demand.
I remember reading about that as well. Based on what I have read, it is true. There isn't enough rare earths to meet our current transport demands (and most of the deposits are in China, so you would end up in their pocket for your transport systems), so we may have to come to accept that EVs will never be as good as ICE cars for the end users.
As EVs start being produced more and more, rare earth metal prices will rise (and electricity prices too, all the extra power + infrastructure will cost), people will find they just cannot afford to travel as far as their predecessors. EVs will have less range, and with liquid fueled cars, you can empty your tank, and refill in 10 mins. Nothing, not even superchargers, can do a full charge that fast. So doing long trips without stopovers won't be possible.
The number of people being able to live out in the suburbs or countryside and commute each day 100+ miles to work and back will decrease. More and more people would have to switch to living in cramped high rise apartments, within walking, cycling or public transport distance to work. The better well off would be able to live within ~ 1/2 their EVs range (to take into account detours en route, different power usage based on seasons, and battery performance at that point in time - basically to give yourself some headroom).
The elephant in the room, which nobody is really mentioning, is that in the (possibly near) future, a huge number of people in western countries will see their quality of life drop, a lot.
We cannot bring the entire developing world to western standards, so what is going to happen is a rebalancing. Their quality of life will improve, but ours will go down (probably only for the middle class, the poor are already poor, and the rich will avoid the worst of it, many are already prepping for such an eventuallity).
Millennials are already noticing this, but I believe the goal is to make it a multi-generational transition, so that there isn't too much social upheaval (we shall see if they manage to drag it out that long)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @11:19PM
Bullshit. Especially in regards with lithium.
Even more so since lithium is not alone in battery chemistries.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:58PM
There are rare earth deposits are all over the planet. Most of the rare earth mines are in China, (and they are trying to buy the rest) but that's because it is a dirty toxic business, and they can undercut anywhere that has any environmental standards.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday October 17 2018, @11:14PM
Depends on the price. The may not be enough cheap lithium, but I wouldn't worry about the availability
The Wikipedia entry states:
Me thinks that may be larger than the mass of all vehicles in circulation (the entire world production of steel for 2017 was 1.691 billion tonnes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Thursday October 18 2018, @03:52PM (2 children)
Cost of lithium extraction from seawater is about double the current cost of mining, and is effectively unlimited. That sets a pretty hard upper limit on the cost.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday October 19 2018, @02:06AM (1 child)
i see online that extraction from lithium brine is half the cost of mining, but is brine != seawater (for which I can't find a price)?
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday October 19 2018, @04:15AM
Yeah, they are different. Lithium brine is where most of it comes from now, it is a subsurface deposit that is already concentrated by natural processes. Basically a liquid ore body, and is cheaper to extract than old fashioned mines. Sea-water lithium is not as concentrated, and costs more to extract and process. The figures I saw said twice the cost of mining, so I guess four times the cost of salar brines.
Here's a quick overview https://www.thebalance.com/lithium-production-2340123 [thebalance.com]
As long as the salar lithium brines are available, nobody is going to bother with sea-water, and they will probably go back to hard mining first as well. Sea-water lithium isn't cheap compared to current production, it is just so vast it sets a upper limit on the retail price.
Personally, I think lithium extraction as a side-product of desalination should become more popular too. Can't find it now, but there was an article claiming that a solar-powered multi-purpose desalination, lithium/sodium/other metals recovery plant could be cost effective if it was in an area where they could use clean water. Think of a desert next to an ocean where you also set up farming and sell fresh vegies. Hard to get funding for, because no single part could pay for it, and investors don't like complicated plans that need to span multiple markets.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.