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John Mahoney10 Mar 2018
NEWS

Jaguar SVO can't wait to get its teeth into EVs

I-PACE SVR could be first in series of performance EVs from Jaguar Land Rover

The Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) skunkworks of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed it will develop high-performance versions of the British car-maker's forthcoming range of electric vehicles (EVs).

Headlined by the Jaguar I-PACE SUV revealed at this week's Geneva motor show, JLR's upcoming EV range could also include the next-generation Jaguar XJ limousine and F-TYPE sports car, and the new Land Rover Defender.

At Geneva, SVO boss John Edwards confirmed his company was relishing the opportunity to redefine what a performance car is with a range of SVO-honed EVs.

Speaking to a group of assembled Australian journalists, Edwards said creating a high-performance version of a battery-powered vehicle wouldn't be easy.

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"It's definitely a different challenge, but I actually look at it as an opportunity and our engineers love having a problem," he said.

"Give them a problem and that's when they're at their very best, trying to work out how to respond to the challenge".

Instead of simply adding more power, Edwards said it could be time to completely redefine the performance car.

"The rules of performance vehicles in a traditional [internal combustion-powered] market are very established and we react to those established rules.

"With electric vehicles, the rules aren't established at all, so I think it gives us different opportunities," he said.

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The SVO boss wouldn't discuss exactly what his engineers were planning but explained that future high-performance EVs, which are likely to carry the 'SVR' badge, could not only offer more power but more luxury.

He said there were "interesting opportunities" when it came to improving a pure-electric vehicle's performance, luxury and capability.

When asked what SVO's first EV will be, Edwards pointed towards last year's Frankfurt motor show announcement that the modified I-PACE eTROPHY racer would begin competing in a one-make race series alongside Formula E.

Although he refused to explicitly confirm an I-PACE SVR was in the works, when asked whether it could be inspired by the racer Edwards smiled and replied "possibly".

He then added: "Of course I would like to see it, but I have no shortage of crazy ideas I'd like to happen".

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Sharing its 90kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the I-PACE eTROPHY is closely related to the road car but has twin motors that produce 325kW (versus the street-legal car's 294kW).

Combined with a weight saving of around 150kg over the road car, the racer can hit 100km/h in just 4.2 seconds - 0.6sec quicker than the standard vehicle.

Another engineer told motoring.com.au the biggest hurdle facing SVO in extracting more power from Jaguar's EV powertrain is the limitation imposed by the inverter, which converts direct current stored in the battery to alternating current to power the motor.

Even with the addition of larger motors, the engineer said performance will not necessarily improve unless you can efficiently extract enough power from the batteries for the motors to generate their maximum power outputs.

Internally, JLR currently thinks it has reached the mechanical and electrical limit for the I-PACE, but work has begun on exploring new electrical alternatives, said the engineer we spoke to.

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