Jaguar Land Rover has announced details of a new research project which will showcase next-generation hybrid and fully electric technologies based on the Range Rover Evoque platform.
Dubbed ‘Evoque_e’, the £16.3m programme will be supported by the Technology Strategy Board, with Jaguar Land Rover contributing £4m. While Jaguar Land Rover will lead the project, there will be 12 partners working in collaboration.
These 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.
The project, which starts in October 2013, will see the realisation of three research vehicles demonstrating next-generation technologies for a mild hybrid electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid vehicle and a 100% battery electric vehicle.
Peter Richings, Jaguar Land Rover Director Hybrids and Electrification, said, “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.
“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 optimisation.
“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.”
