Land Rover and the continuing need for diesel

Politicians in several parts of the world have promised to ban petrol and diesel engine cars from 2040. It is an easy gesture to make, reinforcing their countries’ commitment to the climate change agreements and justifying their governments’ investment in electric cars and alternative power sources, but it is also a cynical one. Those setting the targets know that, in 23 years’ time, achieving them will be someone else’s problem.

But for the motor industry this is a problem for the here and now. Should car manufacturers plan to close down engine plants after the next two model cycles? Should they throw everything into electrics in the hope that consumers will change their minds, get behind official policy, and demand only alternative-fuelled vehicles? Or, is this all feel-good propaganda with no chance of actually happening?

While carmakers struggle with these questions in drawing up their 10- and 15-year plans, they also have to focus on making and selling their current and soon-to-be-launched products in today’s environment. And for a positive and realistic attitude, they could all do well to listen to Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive Ralf Speth.

JLR, in common with most other premium carmakers, has announced that it will, starting in 2020, offer electrified (battery electric – BEV and plug-in hybrid – PHEV) versions of all its new models. But Speth has been careful to explain the continuing role for diesel and a recent JLR Tech Fest exhibition in London put at least as much emphasis on combustion engines as it did on an electrified, and autonomous, future.

There are reasons for that. Notwithstanding the idea of a combustion-free future, the EU 95g/km CO2 regulation is only two years away and premium manufacturers without small cars and engines have no chance of meeting that fleet average without a high proportion of diesels to add to their BEVs and PHEVs. Plus there is JLR’s £1bn investment in the Ingenium series of diesel and petrol engines and the Wolverhampton plant that builds them.

Besides, JLR is on a roll. This year it has launched the Jaguar XF Sportbrake (estate), Range Rover Velar, and the Jaguar E-Pace. It has shown the Jaguar I-Pace, an all-electric crossover SUV, and expects to start selling it as early as next year, along with PHEV versions of the Range Rover and RR Sport. The heritage department of its Special Vehicles Operation, which sells ground-up restorations of early Range Rovers for £100,000-plus, has produced the E-Type Zero, a 1968 E-Type as a BEV, with a battery pack in the place of the famous XK petrol engine under its sensuous long bonnet.

So as well as covering all the bases (and doing some useful research on autonomous vehicles), JLR has the potential for a major increase in sales volume in the coming year – the majority of which will be diesel-powered. The 2016 total of 583,000 could rise to 700,000 in 2018.

At last month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the emphasis was on an electric future and the unspoken message was that diesel is over.

It may well be – but not yet. Diesel development continues and there will be an upsurge in demand for small petrol engines, both as power units in their own right and as components of hybrids which are seen as the bridge to the all-electric nirvana – which may or may not be reached by 2040.

Land Rover Velar

Velar, described as the most road-orientated Land Rover (and named after the original Range Rover prototypes) has a version of the aluminium structure of the bigger Range Rovers and, with its luxurious, hi-tech interior, is likely to play well at the “lifestyle” end of the SUV spectrum. At £44,830, it is £15,000 cheaper than the Range Rover Sport.

The arrival of both the E-Pace and I-Pace (some chance of confusion here…) widens the Jaguar range considerably and explains why Jaguar was allocated the same amount of showroom space as Land Rover in JLR’s new-style joint dealerships.

E-Pace, with the 2-litre Ingenium engine, diesel or petrol, is likely to become the best-selling Jaguar. It uses the steel platform of the Evoque and Discovery Sport and is made at Magna Steyr in Austria. The size of a BMW X1 and Audi Q3, E-Pace prices start at a reasonable £28,500 but the opening First Edition model at £47,800 takes “specification enhancement” (or customer gullibility) to a new level.

With I-Pace, which is longer and lower than E-Pace, JLR becomes the first of “legacy” (pre-Tesla) carmakers to offer an all-electric crossover SUV, albeit one with a distinct sports-coupe look. It will be priced around £60,000 and, cleverly, to make the electrical connection (sorry…), JLR has arranged a one-make racing series for I-Pace to be run along with Formula E single-seater championship as the car is launched in autumn 2018.