JLR inks pact with BMW to develop next-gen electric vehicles

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

Tata Motors-owned Wednesday said it has joined hands with BMW to develop next generation

The two partners will invest jointly in research and development, engineering and procurement with an aim to provide the necessary economies of scale to support increased consumer adoption of electric vehicles, it added.

The strategic collaboration will build on the considerable knowledge and expertise in electrification at both the companies.

"We've proven we can build world beating electric but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land products.

"It was clear from discussions with that both companies' requirements for next generation EDUs (electric drive units) to support this transition have significant overlap making for a mutually beneficial collaboration," Engineering Director said.

JLR's has already demonstrated its capability field through its premium battery electric SUV Jaguar I-PACE, as well as plug-in hybrid models.

also has vast experience of developing and producing several generations of electric drive units in-house since it launched the in 2013.

said the agreement will enable both the companies to take advantage of efficiencies arising from shared research and development and production planning as well as economies of scale from joint procurement across the supply chain.

As part of their agreement, a team of and experts will engineer the EDUs with both partners developing the systems to deliver the specific characteristics required for their respective range of products, the statement said, adding the EDUs will be manufactured by each partner in their own production facilities.

For JLR this will be at its Wolverhampton-based (EMC), which was confirmed as the home for the company's global EDU production in January of this year, it said.

The plant, which employs 1,600 people, will be the centre of propulsion system manufacturing, offering full flexibility between clean lngenium petrol and diesel engines and electric units.

The will be complemented by the recently announced Battery Assembly Centre at Hams Hall, near Birmingham, in supplying electrified to JLR'S global vehicle PLANTS, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, June 05 2019. 15:30 IST