Jaguar XJ EREV (Spy)

[Guest -jag-]

Update: presto Nuova XJ e XF avranno tecnologia ibrida. Sia motori benzina che diesel. Cambio ZF a 8 rapporti.

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.

Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.

The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.

So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?

It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.

JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago. They're developing both petrol- and diesel-electric powertrains for use across both model ranges.

Which engines will be offered in hybrid form?

The first working prototypes feature JLR's 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel mated to a 35kW electric motor. It's integrated into the new ZF eight-speed automatic transmission that'll quickly spread across the XJ, XF, XK Jaguars and the Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport; the hybrid pack is no larger to package than the standard non-assisted eight-speed 'box, helping the designers.

'The transmission can be fitted to any of our cars with a north-south [longitudinal] layout,' confirmed JLR's chief hybrid engineer Peter Richings. That rules out the transverse Land Rover Freelander and Jag X-type, but all other models can theoretically be hybridised relatively easily. And that includes the larger V8 petrol engines or indeed smaller four-cylinder ones.

Future Jaguar hybrids will follow the tech shown in the Range_e prototype unveiled this week: a 350v electric system powered by a lithium ion battery pack and controlled by JLR's own proprietary control unit with regenerative braking. The system will be upgraded to a plug-in hybrid system from around 2015, letting owners charge the lithium ion battery at home or work so they can run on full EV mode for longer. It can drive more than 20 miles on battery power alone, emit less than 100g/km of CO2 and yet top up to 70mph on electric mode.

Is JLR putting all its eggs into hybrid then?

Not at all. Jaguar and sister firm Land Rover are researching range-extending hybrids (using an onboard combustion engine purely to charge the battery like the Chevy Volt), Flybrid power recovery systems and of course they're rolling out new lightweight aluminium structures using the company's expertise garnered from the XJ and XK.

Land Rover is also ditching front-wheel drive on its new compact Range Rover launched in 2011. Although 4wd is available, many buyers are expected to go for the FWD model which, in diesel spec, will emit less than 130g/km and average more than 50mpg.

Via | CarMagazine

[J-Gian]

Quindi il primo passo sarà l'ibrido parallelo, più avanti l'ibrido serie

[Guest -jag-]

Update: La Nuova XJ Limo Green testata dalla rivista AutoExpress

IT’S Jaguar’s new green machine! While the Coventry firm has a long and rich heritage for building British Racing Green-coloured cars that set the pace for rivals, well, here’s one that turns the theme on its head.

This very special XJ – nicknamed Limo Green – is a prototype of a super efficient 57mpg petrol and electric-powered Jaguar of the future. And if the firm’s plans come good, executive car owners will all be motoring in silence in the hybrid in just five years’ time.

Although it may look identical to the sleek and stately new XJ – save for some stickers on the sills – but underneath it’s a different story. The car is powered by a 145kw electric motor, a 360 volt battery and an 80bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder Lotus-developed petrol engine. Battery power delivers the real performance, while the smaller petrol engine ensures you aren’t stuck when the other powerplant goes flat.

The arrangement is similar to the system in Vauxhall’s Ampera – but in the Jaguar, the 1.2-litre engine provides power directly to the rear wheels. In the Ampera, the unit only charges the battery. It’s a system that sees the big Jaguar limousine manage 30 miles on pure electric power, and offer an extended petrol and electric range of over 600 miles. On a long run, the car will return 57mpg, while Jaguar aims to get CO2 emissions down to 50g/km – figures that would make it free of road tax and congestion charges.

The Limo Green shows that Jaguar is at the cutting edge, despite the fact that the firm lacks the huge research budgets of rivals in the executive car world. Although it did receive funding from the Government’s Technology Strategy Board for the Limo Green project. The car is a test bed for pioneering technology, such as materials that reduce the weight of a car that is over 17 foot long.

The prototype is still in the earlier stages of development so it’s not perfect. Occasionally, after you’ve pressed the start button and got used to the eerie silence, you hear a slight clunking from the automatic transmission, mostly heard as the throttle is pressed – but it’s still mightily impressive stuff. And already it’s capable of running 30 miles solely on electric power – we did over 20 miles on electric power alone before the electric engine fired up.

The Limo Green is quick, too, 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds, although the top speed is only around 80mph, but Jaguar says it will eventually have a top speed in excess of 100mph when it goes into full production. We can’t wait for it to go on sale.

[J-Gian]

Motore termico collegato comunque alle ruote... Mah!

[_hainz]

Motore termico collegato comunque alle ruote... Mah!

Io penso che questa soluzione sia meglio rispetto ad Ampera in quanto nelle percorrenze autostradali non si hanno le perdite di rendimento dovute al doppio passaggio:

ice->generatore dotato di inverter -> motore elettrico

ma

ice-> ruote

Quello che mi lascia perplesso è la realizzazione "classica", ma evidentemente dovrebbero ripensare completamente l'auto...

[Cosimo]

da quel poco che ho capito l'idea male non è ma vedo il tutto ancora lontano dalla fase di realizzazione..