UK bans sale of non-electric cars after 2030; Jaguar Land Rover on course for the switch

Car makers will have to expedite the shift towards electric or hybrid vehicles in Britain after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the ban on sale of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030.

The impact of this move will be seen on more than 40 car brands, including Jaguar Land Rover, which is the UK’s largest car producer, 100 percent controlled by Mumbai-based Tata Motors. JLR has a market share of just under 5 percent of the UK.

Slightly over one-fifth of JLR’s global wholesale volumes gets generated within the UK alone. The country is also the third-biggest market for JLR in the world after China and the US, having sold nearly 60,000 units between January and September.

But by 2030, much of JLR’s product portfolio would have already moved to fully electric vehicles or variants of hybrid powertrain going by the plans announced by the two luxury brands.

Starting this year, JLR committed itself to offering electrified options on all its new and refreshed products. It hopes to complete the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles before 2030.

Six new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and nine new mild hybrid electric vehicles are slated for launch in 2021. JLR’s first all-electric car Jaguar I-Pace went on sales in the UK in 2018.

To support and speed up the electrification strategy, JLR joined hands with German giant BMW to manufacture next-generation electric drive units. Its production will begin at Wolverhampton later this year. The start of operations of the battery assembly centre in Hams Hall, North Warwickshire, will also take place this year.

While the Jaguar I-Pace became the first model to debut with a fully electric powertrain, the all-SUV brand Land Rover will likely see the debut of its first all-electric model in 2021. The all-electric Jaguar XJ will also likely debut in the same year.

Under Johnson’s 10-point plan, an investment of more than £2.8 billion would be made in promoting the adoption of electric vehicles. Of this, £1.3 billion will be spent on setting up charging points and £582 million will be given away as incentives to buyers. Nearly £500 million will be spent in the next four years on the development and production of electric vehicle batteries.

“We will allow the sale of hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe until 2035”, Johnson said in his address.