Jaguar Land Rover expands electric line-up with new plug-in hybrid system

British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is planning to expand its line of electric vehicles. The company, owned by Tata Motors, said that a new plug-in hybrid system will be added to two of its current SUV models, the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The company said its latest plug-in hybrid system can switch to an electric-only mode for shorter rides, petrol-and-electric driving for longer distances and a sole petrol engine.

"While being driven, energy generated by the engine during acceleration, or by braking in electric or hybrid mode, is harvested and used to charge the battery," the company said, adding that its hybrid system emits lower emissions.

Jaguar Land Rover launched the all-new Discovery Sport in India in February this year at a starting price of ₹57.06 lakh (ex showroom). Built on the Evoque Transverse Architecture which makes it ready for shift to electric power in the future, the new Discovery Sport was initially offered with BS 6-compliant 2.0-litre petrol and diesel Ingenium engines.

The company had also launched the new Range Rover Evoque in India in January this year. Under the hood, the Evoque has 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol and diesel engines which are BS 6 complaint. While the petrol engine has peak power of 247 bhp and peak torque of 365 Nm, the diesel engine belts out 178 bhp of peak power and has peak torque figures of 430 Nm. An eight-speed auto transmission comes as standard.

Both these SUVs will now have a plug-in hybrid variant as well. However, the company has not given any dates on when to expect the new variants.

Carmakers around the world have been switching to more environment-friendly options in the face of increasing pressure to reduce carbon footprint.

In March, German carmakers BMW and Daimler predicted new electric models will help cut emissions from the cars they sell by an average of 20% this year.

BMW, which already has 500,000 electric and hybrid cars on the road, also said it plans to double that number by the end of next year.

(With inputs from agencies)