The business informed investors on Monday that JLR (previously known as Jaguar Land Rover) will work with the Indian firm Agratas to procure battery packs that will give its EVs a range of up to 720km. Tata, the parent company of JLR, owns Agratas and is considering constructing a cell production facility in either the UK or Spain.
Tata secured a contract with Gujarat last month to establish a cell plant there with an initial capacity of 20GWh, and it is anticipated that the batteries will first be produced in that facility.
Bigger battery in a more compact size
JLR said that Agratas’ batteries would have a far better energy density than those found in the Jaguar I-Pace, the company’s lone EV at the moment.
The new batteries will generate 120kWh from 342 litres of cell capacity, as compared to 84kWh from the I-Pace’s 387 litres, according to JLR’s head of product engineering, Thomas Muller. According to Muller, the EMA Ultra Range pack’s pack size would result in a range of up to 720 km.
Future versions of the Range Rover, Discovery, and Defender will be supported by the new EMA EV architecture. According to Muller, the new battery would also support rapid charging, increasing range by 320 km in just 15 minutes.
Next year JLR will launch a Range Rover electric
JLR will be in charge of managing the design and manufacturing of the cell pack, while Agratas will be in charge of the design and production of the cell. With regard to the sourcing and refinement of materials for the pack, Muller has promised “full transparency across the value chain” and both firms will also cooperate on a recycling solution.
The first of three electric Jaguars, a four-door GT, will debut in 2025 after JLR introduces an electric Range Rover the following year. Whether the Agratas batteries will be ready for the Jaguar or the very first electric Range Rover is unknown, though.
