Jaguar Land Rover’s head of product development says JLR will release a number of large hybrid and plug-in hybrid models.
WOLFGANG ZIEBERT head of product development at Jaguar Land Rover, has told Automotive News Europe that JLR will follow in Tesla Motors‘ footsteps by concentrating on larger model hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles to suit US and Chinese tastes. “The Tesla is not a small vehicle. It’s XJ size. Europe would like to have an electric car that is small, like the BMW i3 or below – whereas the U.S. and China would prefer a larger car, and the Tesla direction clearly shows this,” he said.
And while he was cagey with details, Ziebert suggested JLR is developing the current hybrid electric drivetrain in the current Range Rover. “We can’t talk about specific dates, but you can expect progress along the route we started with the current hybrid electric [system used in the Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid with the SDV6 diesel]. The share of electric power will increase, and the combustion will be downsized so that you have more opportunity to drive electrically,” he told Automotive News Europe.
