Jaguar Land Rover warmly welcomed the announcement of government funding to help speed up the development of technologies that will significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Department for Transport, through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform, have announced that 16 innovative development projects, worth over £52 million, will receive £23 million government investment through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform.

Jaguar Land Rover is involved in a number of the projects through partnerships with suppliers, government agencies, and universities.

The projects identified today are:

Range Extended Electric Vehicle REHEV

To develop a modular electric and electric/diesel powertrain, suitable for several different vehicle types. This will be tested on a large premium sport utility platform delivering 120 to 130 g/km CO2 and a zero emissions range of at least 12 miles. The project will also investigate range extension and plug-in charging and the installation/ commissioning of local recharging facilities for vehicle trials within the E-ON fleet.

Flywheel Hybrid System for Premium Vehicles

To design and develop a mechanical hybrid (flywheel and variable drive system), kinetic energy recovery system for use in a premium segment passenger vehicle as an alternative, cost competitive solution to other hybrid systems.

Limo-Green              

To use Jaguar's class leading lightweight aluminium body structures as a basis for testing the concept of a large luxury vehicle with an advanced hybrid electric driveline, consisting of an advanced drive motor, small battery pack and a small auxilliary power generator for sustained cruising. The project aim is to demonstrate a vehicle with sub 120g/km CO2 whilst maintaining the premium quality of the vehicle.

Lower Cost, Light Weight Vehicles by Increasing the Use of Aluminium Scrap

To demonstrate, within five years, the feasibility of a mass producible, lightweight car based on a body structure built using sustainable aluminium sheet derived in part from low cost energy efficient recycled, post consumer scrap. This will be a key enabler for the mass production in the UK of low CO2 premium cars.

In addition, Jaguar Land Rover is involved in a project led by Ricardo to deliver a global premium vehicle demonstrating a 25-30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions with no loss of performance using an innovative, highly-downsized petrol engine with two-stroke/four-stroke switching technology.

Commenting on the announcement, Jaguar Land Rover's acting Chief Executive Officer, David Smith, said, "Our engineers are at the forefront of developing new, sustainable technology and as a business we are investing £700m on projects specifically aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

"We welcome the announcement today by the Technology Strategy Board of government funding for these important projects and we fully support the additional £70m of government investment in the Low Carbon Vehicles Integrated Delivery Programme. This will assist Jaguar Land Rover, other UK vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers to accelerate and widen programmes to achieve even more substantial CO2 improvements for vehicles."

Source: Land Rover