Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has unveiled its new £250 million EV test facility, as it prepares to launch nine pure electric luxury models by 2030.
The new 323,000 sq. ft. Future Energy Lab at JLR’s Whitley Engineering Centre in Coventry will host more than £40m worth 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 its test and development capacity.
It 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.
More than 200 EV engineers are already working at the facility, and a further 150 roles will be created.
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.
Oliver Boakes, Chief Engineer, Powertrain Test Operations at JLR, said, “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.”
