Word broke on Monday that Jaguar was readying a range-extending hybrid electric vehicle system for its forthcoming XE roadster, but a Jaguar official has confirmed that a Chevrolet Volt -esque system will be available in the company’s next-generation XJ sedan.
The new system, which could bow as early as 2011 in the XJ, will essentially mirror the powertrain of the Chevy Volt. The XJ hybrid will use a four-cylinder gas engine to recharge the vehicle’s lithium-ion batteries, with an electric motor handling all propulsion duties. Jaguar’s system would provide about a 30 mile range on battery power with plug-in capabilities.
Jaguar will use the new system to take aim at Lexus ’ hybrid offerings. Lexus has long been the standard in green luxury motoring, but Jaguar chief engineer Kevin Stride told Drive that Lexus’ hybrids are “inefficient”.
“To me, that seems inefficient because a petrol engine isn’t as efficient as an electric motor,” he said. “You want your most efficient motor driving the wheels.”
Although Stride believes Lexus’ approach to hybrids isn’t ideal, he acknowledges the Japanese automaker’s strategy has commercially “been the right answer”.
Stride failed to give a timeframe for the range-extending system, but we fully to see a version of it in the 2011 XJ sedan.
