JLR ACCELERATES ELECTRIFICATION WITH NEW £250M STATE-OF-THE-ART FUTURE ENERGY LAB

23 October 2023

  • JLR opens the Future Energy Lab, a new £250 million state‑of‑the‑art electric vehicle (EV) test facility at its engineering centre in Whitley, Coventry
  • The 323,000 sq ft engineering facility is developing Electric Drive Units (EDUs) for JLR’s next generation pure electric Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar models
  • Investment in the facility has created 350 new jobs
  • The site represents a scale up in the luxury car manufacturer’s EV development as JLR develops new pure electric models across all brands

Whitley, UK, 23 October 2023: JLR will today unveil its new Future Energy Lab, a £250 million state of the art electric vehicle (EV) test facility, as it prepares to launch nine pure electric luxury models by 2030. 

The new 323,000 sq. ft. facility at JLR’s Whitley Engineering Centre in Coventry will host more than £40 million of technological innovations to enable the rapid testing of EVs, including electric test rigs, Electric Drive Unit (EDU) manufacturing and electric vehicle systems test cells. This includes a series of extreme‑weather climate chambers, capable of simulating the harshest of conditions – from ‑40°C and up to 55°C. 

The facility, part of JLR’s £15bn investment to electrify its luxury brands over the next five years, will significantly increase JLR’s test and development capacity. This will enable the company to sustainably scale up its next generation EVs, reducing the need to transport across other global test facilities during the development process. 

By increasing its capacity for testing EVs on‑site, JLR is minimising the cost of, and the emissions associated with sending fleets of prototype cars around the world for test assessments. 

More than 200 EV engineers are already working at the facility, and a further 150 roles will be created, providing a significant employment boost to the regional economy.  

JLR is planning a further £22m worth of investment next year, as it continues to upgrade the Coventry site. 

Our vehicles are, and continue to be, at the forefront of an all‑electric automotive future. This facility, a core component of our Reimagine strategy, is essential to providing the advanced testing capabilities that will be vital to the performance and reliability of the modern luxury vehicles we are proudly developing.

THOMAS MUELLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT ENGINEERING, JLR
JLR'S THOMAS MUELLER WITH MAYOR ANDY STREET
JLR'S THOMAS MUELLER WITH MAYOR ANDY STREET

Our operations at Whitley are at the heart of JLR – itself a leading business in the local community – so this test facility is another jewel in the crown of our move towards an all‑electric future. This is a notable investment for the business and local economy.

OLIVER BOAKES, CHIEF ENGINEER, POWERTRAIN TEST OPERATIONS, JLR

 

JLR’s next electric vehicle, the modern luxury Range Rover BEV, is one of the models undergoing hundreds of thousands of hours of testing on these rigs, while its EDUs are designed, developed and tested by JLR engineers based at Whitley. The model is due to launch next year. 

The new site represents another milestone in the delivery of JLR’s Reimagine Strategy to ready its industrial footprint for electrification. By taking the design and development of its own EDUs in‑house, JLR is assuming greater oversight of its own supply chain, with more flexibility to change its own EDUs. 

We have been steadfast in our ambition to place our region right at the forefront of both automotive excellence and the transition to electric vehicle production.

Today’s brilliant news from JLR vindicates our ambition. With the opening of this new Future Energy Lab in Coventry ‑ a multi‑million pound investment in engineering ‑ JLR are doubling down on their commitment to electrification in the months and years ahead.

This announcement also means that local people stand to benefit hugely ‑ equipping them with the skills they need to succeed in this sector and the employment opportunities to match.

ANDY STREET, MAYOR OF THE WEST MIDLANDS

For more information on the roles available at the facility, click here.  

Further information

Media Enquiries: 

JLR Media:   

E: jlrmedia@jaguarlandrover.com   

T: +44 (0) 2475 361000   

 

Linda Luong  

Global External Communications Officer   

E: lluong@jaguarlandrover.com  

T: +44 (0) 7384 232 691   

Notes to Editors

About the Future Energy Lab 

The EDU testing process at the facility is unique in the UK and Europe, with EDU’s undergoing complex testing methods for extended periods of time to explore its potential capability.  

Vehicle in‑the‑loop testing carried out at the facility is a vital part of the test process, examining real vehicle movements in a simulated environment, allowing for more scenarios to be tested.  

JLR also uses advanced regenerative energy technology to deliver a sustainable method of testing. Regenerated energy from each test cycle is redirected into the local supply, reducing the input of new electrical energy required forest.  

About the Reimagine Strategy 

JLR’s Reimagine strategy is delivering a sustainability‑rich vision of modern luxury by design. 

We are transforming our business to become carbon net zero across our supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. We have set a roadmap to reduce emissions across our own operations and value chains by 2030 through approved, science‑based targets. Electrification is central to this strategy and before the end of the decade our Range Rover, Discovery, Defender collections will each have a pure electric model, while Jaguar will be entirely electric.  

At heart we are a British company, with two design and engineering sites, three vehicle manufacturing facilities, an engine manufacturing centre, and a battery assembly centre in the UK. We also have vehicle plants in China, Brazil, India, Austria, and Slovakia, as well as seven technology hubs across the globe.

JLR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited, part of Tata Sons.