The German CEO of Jaguar Land Rover has revealed that Jaguar is pursuing all-electric drivetrains while Land Rover is expected to move towards hybrids.
Peter Modelhart told local media Rhein Zeitung that future Jaguar models will change and adopt electric power yet still be “a real Jaguar”. Although the executive didn’t reveal which Jaguar models will be electric, it is reported that the company is developing both an electric sedan and a battery-powered SUV.
Serving as direct rivals to the Tesla Model S and Model X, the vehicles will be particularly important for Jaguar to boost its sales in the United States. In the past year, the company has sold fewer cars there than Tesla.
While Jaguar is going down the electric route, Modelhart said that hybrid powertrains “probably make more sense than a pure electric powertrain” for Land Rover.
In Europe, select Range Rover models can be ordered with a diesel-electric V6 drivetrain and given the torque and fuel efficiency improvements provided by an electric motor, it’s likely that additional models within the Land Rover family will follow this path.
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