Jaguar XJ_e plug-in hybrid debuts at Goodwood

The Jaguar Jaguar XJ_e plug-in hybrid research car with a 2.0 litre EcoBoost engine and 69kW electric motor on show at Goodwood.

It’s been a bit of a Jaguar 24hrs with the news of prices for the new Xf Sportbrake and the debut of the new 3.0L Supercharged engine in the XJ for 2013.

Now we get the public debut of the Jaguar XJ_e plug-in hybrid at the Goodwood Festival of Speed today featuring the 2.0 litre Ecoboost petrol engine from the Evoque and a 69kW (93bhp) electric motor.

Jaguar aren’t shouting that the hybrid XJ is about to go in to production but they are making it clear that Jaguar Land Rover are still working on future hybrid drivetrains.

The XJ_e is a plug-in hybrid – unlike the last hybrid XJ, the XJ Limo Green, which was a range-extender – and is designed to demonstrate that a 2.0 litre plug-in hybrid XJ can offer much of what a 5.0 litre ICE XJ can offer.

Jaguar say the XJ_e can be fully charged in under four hours and then deliver an EV only range of around 25 miles, with a full range of 679 miles on a full tank.

The XJ_e is designed to run as either a pure electric car, as an ICE car or with a combination of both power sources. Its maximum output is 334PS, which is almost the same as the new 3.0L S/C XJ, yet it will offer official economy of 87mpg (and therefore CO2 emissions of 75g/km), although real-world figures will be much poorer.

Bob Joyce, JLR’s Engineering Director, said:

The XJ_e investigates how a 5.0-litre V8 engine could be replaced by an advanced 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain to deliver similar performance and refinement, but with CO2 emissions of less than 75g/km.  While the XJ_e is an experimental project, it highlights that JLR customers can expect some exciting low-carbon products in the future.

An interesting project, but any production version of a Jaguar XJ_e plug-in hybrid is still some way off.

By Cars UK