Early last week Ford Motor Company announced a commitment of at least £1 billion toward developing environmental technologies in the UK. These technologies include development of lightweight, hybrid electric and bio-fuel vehicles. Ford of Europe and PAG (Premier Automotive Group) vehicles, which include Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo will work together to bring these projects to market.

Land Rover is not a stranger to hybrid powertrains. Warwick University and Land Rover have been testing advanced hybrid powertrains for more than a decade. Earlier this year Land Rover showed off their Land_e hybrid electric concept, which showed some of Land Rovers innovations in hybrid powertrain technology.

In a press release early last week Ford also mentioned a new lightweight platform that will be developed for a yet unnamed PAG brand. The official release stated, "The engineering expertise in working with aluminium has become a core competency for Jaguar and can be shared by other members of the Ford group. A further all-new generation of lightweight premium vehicles will be developed among Ford's premium brands." Could this mean an all-new aluminum platform for Land Rover? Perhaps.

According to a recent report from the University of Warwick, researchers at Prodrive, Jaguar Land Rover, Advantage West Midlands and the University of Warwick’s Manufacturing Group have been working together on the next generation of hybrid innovations. The report mentioned on-going hybrid projects such as a "normal petrol or diesel engine with another form of power such as an electric battery or fuel cell".

These innovations were shown at a recent Hybrid Vehicles Conference, which was held at Prodrive’s facilities and test track at new Kenilworth in Warwickshire. Over 150 government representatives, manufacturers, policy makers and researchers attended the "Ride & Drive" event.

In regards to the hybrid "Ride & Drive" event, the University of Warwick report quoted Dr. Paul Jennings, Principal Investigator on the Hybrid projects as saying, "The research at Warwick is benefiting from the fact that we have all major stakeholders on board, including vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, recyclers, councils, the insurance industry, the emergency services, environmental and technology consultants and vehicle testing and certification agencies. To optimise our research outputs we need to understand and take account of all perspectives."

Photo: Paul Jennings, Principal Investigator on Hybrid Projects, University of Warwick in front of a red hybrid powered Land Rover Defender at the recent Hybrid Vehicles Conference held the Prodrive testing grounds in New Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

With Ford’s initial £1 billion commitment to hybrid development in the UK; years of research might finally come to fruition. Some automobile companies see hybrids as merely a marketing ploy. Land Rovers commitment is one of delivering innovative solutions to real world problems such a rising fuel costs and reducing CO2 emissions. But as Land Rover says, these hybrids must not compromise the capability of their vehicles. This not only says a lot about Land Rover from an engineering standpoint but also shows how energy conscience they are.

What else: Did you know the first hybrid electric 4x4 was a Land Rover – SEE: http://www.warwick.ac.uk/atc/tig/whatwedo/projects/hylander.php

What else: Also check out the previous HERO (Hybrid Electric Realized Off-road) diesel electric project which was based on the military Wolf specification Defender – SEE: http://www.warwick.ac.uk/atc/tig/whatwedo/projects/hero.php

Photo Top: Land Rover

Photo Bottom: Warwick University - Special thanks to Warwick University for providing this photo and information for this article