Daily Archives: October 15, 2018
Jaguar Is Turning Fully Electric?
Jaguar may be transforming into a fully-electric luxury brand in the near future. It is believed that Jaguar’s bosses are drafting an outline strategy which would phase out the gasoline-powered vehicles from the Jag’s lineup within the next decade. The conventional vehicle range might be phased out in five to seven years and will be fully replaced by electric vehicles.
Publicly, Jaguar has already stated that all new models it will launch starting in 2020 will offer some sort of hybrid powertrain. Still, a move to sell exclusively battery- or electric-powered vehicles is a big leap.
It is believed that the new Jaguar I-Pace, which is a pure-electric crossover, is just the first step to revamp Jag’s whole lineup. Under the plans being considered, the next vehicle from Jaguar would be a full-on luxury electric saloon that will replace the XJ. That will come within the next two years and will direct compete with Porsche’s upcoming Taycan and Tesla Model S.
The next vehicle will be a second electric crossover but slightly larger than the I-Pace. The plan is for it to replace the Jaguar XE and XF sedans once they reached the end of their life cycles, which is around 2023. After that, there will be a second-generation I-Pace while the current E-Pace and F-Pace crossovers will be discontinued. Jaguar’s F-Type sports car could also be phased out and replaced by an electric sports car.
Based on this, Jaguar’s lineup will be fully electric by 2026 except for the upcoming three-row J-Pace crossover.
According to early estimates, a four- or five-model all-electric Jaguar lineup can sell as many as 300,000 units a year. The company will benefit from the higher retail prices of a trend that sees the luxury vehicle market switching to electric and battery power.
While this might sound like a big risk for Jaguar, we must remember that the company has done much of the engineering legwork to make this possible. Thanks to the I-Pace, they now have technology developed for many components of an electric car, including electric motors, platforms, and battery packs that can be used on a variety of models.
Skoda’s Baby SUV Is Due By 2020
Skoda’s next compact SUV, which will slot in between the Skoda Karoq and the Skoda Kodiaq, will be on sale by 2020. It will be the most practical and spacious model in its class, hoping to best rival Nissan Juke. The new compact SUV, whose name has not been released yet, will be the third in the brand’s expanding range and will be the “spiritual successor” to the Yeti crossover that will be revealed next year.
For this new crossover, Skoda is focusing on practicality using the VW Group’s new MQB AO platform in the longest possible set-up. Its wheelbase will measure 2,645mm, giving the car more space inside than the VW T-Roc.
Bernhard Maier, the Czech company’s big boss, said that they hope to position the new Skoda “at the upper end of the segment, so we have a longer wheelbase, have a bigger boot and more space in the interior.”
But while the platform will adopt an all-wheel drive, the new Skoda will not come equipped with the tech to keep the price down. It will arrive with VW’s latest batch of engines, which for the most part will be a version of the 1.0-liter three-cylinder petrol used in the Fabia and Octavia hatchbacks.
There will likely be two variants—one that makes 95 horsepower and another that chucks out 115 horsepower. Buyers who want more power may opt for the 148-horsepower 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo. There will also be a 1.6-liter diesel option. As for a plug-in hybrid version? That’s unlikely, at least for now.
The arrival of Skoda’s newest crossover SUV in 2020 comes in the midst of “the largest campaign of launches in Skoda’s history” in a segment that has become the fastest growing in Europe’s auto industry. By 2020, SUVs are expected to account for 34 percent of new cars sold in the region.
Maier said they plan to offer 20 new models by 2020 and nine of those will be electrified.
Next-Gen Mercedes-Benz GLE Plug-In Will Have A 62-Mile Range
The next Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid will have a huge improvement over the 2018 GLE 550e plug-in that only produces 10 miles of electric driving. The new plug-in hybrid is rated with 62 miles of electric range, according to a WLTP test cycle.
Ola Kallenius, head of Daimler group research and Mercedes-Benz cars development and Daimler’s next CEO, told in an interview that the plug-in hybrid is scheduled to be launched in the second half of next year.
It remains unclear if the GLE PHEV will only be launched exclusively in Europe initially but we’re pretty sure that the United States will have to wait for a few more months before getting their hands on the vehicle.
There are also no indications yet of what engine will be paired with the existing electric motor. Most plug-in hybrids come with a four-cylinder gasoline engine, but Kallenius said it’s possible we might even see a diesel powertrain. Things will be very different for the US market, though, which will quite possibly see a wider range of engine options.
An issue that may crop up, however, is the validity of the WLTP test cycle. In most cases, the WLTP testing correlates closely with the EPA test results but there are some instances where these two have butt heads. The Chevrolet Bolt is rated at 240 miles by the WLTP but only 238 miles by the EPA. The Hyundai Kona got a 292-mile range rating from WLTP but the EPA only rated it for 250 miles.
This means we cannot be too sure about the GLE plug-in hybrid’s numbers. The US market, specifically, may want to wait for the EPA results, though the WLTP figures still represent a huge advancement for plug-in hybrid vehicles, a vast majority of which don’t go as far as 62 miles on electric power alone.
