Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Team up on Joint EV Tech
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW today announced a partnership to develop next-generation Electric Drive Units (EDUs) in a move that will support the advancement of electrification technologies.
The two automakers see a significant overlap in their requirements for future EDUs and they believe their collaboration will be mutually beneficial. They will share research and development and production planning as well as economies of scale from joint procurement across the supply chain.
- Also: 2019 Jaguar I-PACE: Style, Luxury, Comfort… and No Emissions
- Also: The 2019 BMW i3 Will Boast Greater Range
The systems they develop will be adapted to meet the specific characteristics required for their respective products. They will also be manufactured at each company’s own production facility.
“The pace of change and consumer interest in electrified vehicles is gathering real momentum and it’s essential we work across industry to advance the technologies required to deliver this exciting future,” said Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover Engineering Director. “We’ve proven we can build world beating electric cars, but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land Rover products.”
The strategic collaboration will build on the considerable knowledge and expertise in electrification at both companies. JLR sells the all-electric I-PACE along with plug-in hybrid versions of some Land Rover SUVs, while BMW’s extensive lineup of electrified options ranges from the i3 and i8 to various iPerformance hybrid models.
Earlier this year, the German automaker joined forces with its domestic rival Daimler to develop next-generation technologies for automated driving.