JLR turns focus to PHEVs amidst global slowdown in EV sales

Back in 2021, Jaguar Land Rover had revealed an ambitious plan to introduce as many as six new EVs by 2026 under the Land Rover brand, and fully electrify the Jaguar brand from 2025 onwards. However, amidst a slowdown in EV demand globally, JLR has gone back on its words, and is now slowing down the introduction of EVs in favour of introducing more plug-in hybrids in the short term.

Future Land Rover electric line-up

In a recent earnings call, JLR announced that the sale of its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models rose 68 percent to 45,224 units in Europe in 2023, while the pace of growth of EVs has slowed down. As per a report by Automotive News Europe, this has now prompted JLR to refocus on PHEVs.

“What you have seen from other OEMs is that the race to BEV is starting to stutter a little,” said Adrian Mardell, chief executive offer, Jaguar Land Rover. “PHEV acceptance has been quite a surprise. We are working hard in the interim time to make more PHEVs available.” Currently, except the Discovery, all Land Rover models are offered with plug-in hybrid variants.

Despite Land Rover reducing the number of EVs it intends to introduce by 2026, it is still on track to unveil its first all-electric SUV, the Range Rover, with the carmaker already having amassed over 16,000 bookings. This will be followed by the all-electric version of the Range Rover Sport, and both of them will be underpinned by JLR’s Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform.

These will be followed by two smaller EVs that will be underpinned by JLR’s EMA platform. Although there are no details of these models yet, they will likely be all-electric successors to the Velar and Evoque. There’s a Defender EV also in the pipeline, but that’s due much later.

Future Jaguar electric line-up

Jaguar, meanwhile, will continue its focus on becoming an electric-only brand, and once rebranded, will reveal an all-electric, four-door GT to rival the Porsche Taycan; this will be followed by a smaller, second EV. All of Jaguar’s existing ICE models – F-Pace, F-Type and E-Pace – as well as the I-Pace will be discontinued after their current generation. Regardless, JLR is still targeting 60 percent EV sales by 2030, rising to 100 percent by 2036.