JLR creates new £250m EV testing site in Coventry
Investment has created 150 new jobs, according to the car maker.
JLR has unveiled a new £250m testing facility in Coventry that will help the carmaker launch a series of new electric vehicles.
The ‘Future Energy Lab’ is a facility located at JLR’s Whitley Engineering Centre and it’s where the firm will develop its next generation of electric motors. It even includes ‘extreme-weather climate chambers’ which can replicate harsh conditions and plunge components into temperatures ranging from -40 to up to 55 degrees Celsius.
JLR says that increasing EV testing capacity minimises the cost and lowers emissions associated with sending prototype vehicles around the world to be trialled in different conditions and temperatures.
Alongside the 200 electric vehicle engineers already working at the facility, an extra 150 roles will be created. JLR also expects to put an additional £22m into the site next year as upgrades to the site continue.
Thomas Mueller, executive director of product engineering, JLR, said: “Our vehicles are, and continue to be, at the forefront of an all-electric automotive future.
“This facility, a core component of our Reimagine 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.”
JLR’s future electric vehicles span its current range of cars. A battery-powered Range Rover will be the first to arrive – and one which is currently being tested – ahead of its predicted launch next year.
