JLR’s XJ_e Plug-in Hybrid Engineering Research Vehicle at Goodwood

It was a busy weekend for the auto enthusiasts with best of the best cars making a show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012. One such display was made by the eminent JLR group. One of the cars to make an appearance from the group was the ultra-low carbon XJ_e plug-in hybrid engineering research vehicle. It exhibits how parallel plug-in hybrid design results into over 70% of reduction in Co₂ without bargaining with the performance of the vehicle. It has a CO2 output of less than 75g per kilometre with a zero-emmision range of about 40km during electric usage andis capable of accelerating 0-100kmph in less than 6.5seconds. The limited top speed of the vehicle is 250kmph.

The parallel hybrid design in other words mean that XJ_e is capable of running on petrol power, electric power or a combination of two which is optimised by the car’s intelligent energy management system which selects the most efficient mode. XJ_e is made of Jaguar XJ’s class-leading lightweight aluminium vehicle structure along with plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) system. It features 2.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine and a hybridised 8-speed automatic transmission. Range Rover Evoque uses the same petrol engine that powers the XJ_e. Along with the petrol engine, 69kW motor/generator and 12.8kWh Lithium Ion battery pack is what the powers the hybrid system. This system can be fully charged within 4 hours by an external 240V domestic supply. The battery pack can deliver an electric-only range of 40kms. The maximum power that can be churned out will be 329.4bhp.

The project is a part of the strategy to develop best-in-class premium products that are low-carbon. The project is partly funded by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board through the REEVolution project, which is a collaborative Research and Development project for creating new high performance Range Extended Electric Vehicles (REEV) and Plug-in Hybrids Electric Vehicles (PHEV). This project was to determine and examine how a 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain that delivers the same performance and refinement and can replace 5.0-litre V8 engine, said Bob Joyce, Director of Engineering, JLR.

Read More on : Jaguar XJ expert review