Published June 29, 2012
By Philippe Crowe
Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled its XJ_e plug-in hybrid engineering research vehicle at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The XJ_e project was created by JLR as part of its strategy to develop best-in-class low-carbon premium products, and follows other hybrid research demonstrators including the Limo Green and Range_e vehicles.
The XJ_e is an experimental version of its luxury Jaguar XJ sedan, powered by Axeon. The XJ_e demonstrates how an advanced parallel plug-in hybrid design can deliver reductions in CO2 emissions of over 70 percent, without compromising vehicle performance.
Capable of 0- 62 mph in under 6.5 seconds and with a limited top speed of 250 kph (150mph), the XJ_e achieves CO2 emissions of less than 75g/km and a zero-emission range of 40 km (25 miles) on electric power.
The XJ_e demonstrator, which is on static display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, uses a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery from Axeon.
The hybrid system uses a 69-kw motor/generator and a 12.8-kwh lithium ion battery pack, which can be fully charged by an external 240-volt domestic supply in around four hours.
The parallel hybrid design means that the XJ_e can run on petrol power, electric power, or a combination of the two, optimized by the car’s intelligent energy management system which selects the most efficient mode.
The XJ_e returns fuel economy of 3.2l/100km (87 mpg), which translates into a maximum range of 1092 km (679 miles) on a full tank of fuel.
The luxury plug-in hybrid battery weighs in at 159 kg. The battery pack makes use of the latest lithium iron phosphate pouch cells in liquid-cooled/heated self-contained modules for optimum battery management and safety.
The demonstrator vehicle is a result of a collaborative R&D project funded by the Technology Strategy Board intoRange Extended Electric Vehicles (REEV) and Plug-in Hybrids Electric Vehicles (PHEV).
Part funded by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board through the REEVolution project, this advanced research vehicle has been engineered in partnership with leading UK technology companies to help develop expertise for ultra-low carbon vehicles within the supply chain.
