Jaguar Land Rover is set to conduct a demonstration of its XJ_e plug-in hybrid engineering research vehicle at the 2012 CENEX Low Carbon Vehicle Event. The XJ_e project is part of the carmaker’s strategy to develop best-in-class low-carbon premium vehicles. The project also comes after other successful hybrid research demonstrators including the Range_e project. The XJ_e is partly financed by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board through the REEVolution project and is engineered in collaboration with leading UK technology firms to help develop the know-how for ultra-low carbon vehicles within the supply chain.
Bob Joyce, Engineering Director at Jaguar Land Rover, remarked that the carmaker is at the centre of the UK car industry’s drive to provide technical innovation in all areas of vehicle development. The XJ_e demonstrates how an advanced parallel plug-in hybrid design could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 70 per cent, without compromising vehicle performance.
The XJ_e could accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in under 6.5 seconds to reach a limited top speed of 250km/h. Despite this performance, the XJ_e only emits less than 75g grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, and boasts of a zero-emission range of 40km (25 miles) on electric power. Power from its 2.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine is transmitted to the wheels through a hybridised 8-speed automatic gearbox. The XJ_e uses the class-leading lightweight aluminium vehicle structure from the Jaguar XJ coupled with an advanced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) system.
