JLR opens new electric vehicle test centre ahead of new model launches

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has opened a new £250 million electric vehicle (EV) test facility, as it prepares to launch nine fully-electric models by 2030.

The Future Energy Lab at JLR’s Whitley Engineering Centre in Coventry will be home to more than £40m of new eqipment to enable the rapid testing of EVs, including electric test rigs, Electric Drive Unit (EDU) manufacturing and EV systems test cells.

There will also be a series of extreme-weather climate chambers, capable of simulating the harshest of conditions from -40°C and up to 55°C.

The facility, part of JLR’s £15 billion investment to electrify its luxury brands over the next five years, will significantly increase JLR’s test and development capacity.

JLR says it will enable it to sustainably scale up its next generation EVs, reducing the need to use other global test facilities during the development process.

Thomas Mueller, executive director of product engineering at JLR, said: “This facility, a core component of our Re-imagine strategy, is essential to providing the advanced testing capabilities that will be vital to the performance and reliability of the modern luxury vehicles we are proudly developing.” 

More than 200 EV engineers are already working at the facility, and a further 150 roles will be created, providing a significant employment boost to the regional economy.

JLR is planning a further £22m worth of investment next year, as it continues to upgrade the Coventry site.

Oliver Boakes, chief engineer for powertrain test operations at JLR, said: “Our operations at Whitley are at the heart of JLR – itself a leading business in the local community – so this test facility is another jewel in the crown of our move towards an all-electric future.

“This is a notable investment for the business and local economy.”

JLR’s next EV, the Range Rover battery electric vehicle (BEV), is one of the models undergoing hundreds of thousands of hours of testing on these rigs, while its EDUs are designed, developed and tested by JLR engineers based at Whitley. The model is due to launch next year.