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Jaguar XJ electric sedan debut pushed to late 2021

Jaguar's been testing prototypes of the coming all-electric XJ sedan for a while now, an example we saw earlier this year testing in the cold having reached an advanced stage. The plan had been to launch the battery-powered flagship fastback this year, with sales to commence early 2021. A report in The Sunday Times says that plan has changed, Jaguar pushing the XJ back to the third quarter of next year while the automaker focuses on its finances and its most profitable models. The site FormaCar reports, "The presentation date on the official website now reads, 'October 2021,'" but we haven't found that XJ-specific page. In response to questions about the Jaguar canceling the XJ, a spokesperson responded, "Our engineers continue to work on the next-generation all-electric Jaguar XJ. We remain committed to our long-term strategy and our product portfolio remains the same, but the unprecedented situation will inevitably have an impact on our immediate plans." The Jaguar Land Rover group, coming off a string of deep losses during 2018 and 2019, was working through a cost-cutting and turnaround plan when Covid-19 hammered the global economy. The whispered concern among outsiders is that Jaguar will drop the XJ entirely, but that doesn't appear to be the case for now. The automaker cut thousand of jobs while investing more than a billion pounds into its Castle Bromwich factory to prepare for electric-car assembly. At the moment, Castle Bromwich normally builds the XE and XF sedans, those offerings also in flux while Jaguar reportedly considers turning one or both of them into a small hatchback or a compact plug-in hybrid sedan. We write "normally" because the factory was put on pause to deal with Covid lockdowns, and isn't scheduled to restart until August 14. And above all of this, JLR is on the hunt for a new CEO to replace Ralf Speth. We've been expecting the new sedan to open the book on mainstream luxury EVs, the same way the I-Pace did for SUVs, but it appears that won't happen. The electric XJ will come on the Modular Longitudinal Architecture, and we've understood the specs include a 90.2-kWh battery pack, the same size as the I-Pace pack. There have been rumors about a four-motor setup, but odds favor a twin-motor arrangement. The motors in the I-Pace produce 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque. For an XJ flagship, we'd expect an even more powerful option in the range.

Junkyard Gem: 2002 Jaguar XJR

One thing that's a constant in the big self-service car graveyards is the presence of massively depreciated European luxury sedans. These cars come from the factory stuffed full of complex leading-edge technology, and they require the owner to check every box on the maintenance schedule, year after year. Once that 10-year-old A8 or S-Class reaches its fourth owner, broken stuff often goes unrepaired, convenience-store generic oil goes in the engine (that is, if the engine even gets any new oil), and the European Luxury Sedan Doomsday Clock starts ticking. Here's a factory-hot-rod Jag that sold new for quite a bit more than a BMW 745i and just 20 bucks less than a Mercedes-Benz S430, back when Enron's machinations were in the news and a lot of energy-industry execs were about to get their luxury sedans repossessed, now in a Colorado self-serve yard. We live in a golden age of forced-induction engines in U-Wrench junkyards, with all sorts of turbocharged and supercharged machinery just waiting to provide the raw materials for a really stupid engine swap. The 4.0-liter, 370-horsepower V8 in the 2002 XJR would be just about perfect for installation into, say, a Datsun Maxima. This yard charges just $44.99 plus $10.60 in core charges and environmental fees for any supercharger, be it the dime-a-dozen Eaton M62 found on GM 3800s or the mighty M112 that was once buried between the heads on this engine. Thing is, you need to get to a car like this immediately after it hits the yard, because the first junkyard shopper with sufficient tools is going to grab that ultra-cool blower right away. The price tag for this car started at $71,830, which comes to about $105,550 in 2020 dollars. We can assume that some four-figure repair became necessary, and that this car's final owner had to let it go to the highest bidder with cash on hand… which turned out to be U-Pull-&-Pay. Look, you could still get a cassette player in a high-end luxury car in 2002! When do you suppose CD players will finally disappear from new cars? Here in the junkyard, the lowly Kia becomes equal to the majestic Jaguar. Perhaps their metals will be reused in a Geely next year. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The security of knowing you'll never, ever lose it in the parking lot. Featured Gallery Junked 2002 Jaguar XJR View 20 Photos Auto News Jaguar Automotive History Sedan jaguar xjr Junkyard Gems

Jaguar XE promises to net 'over 75 mpg,' just not for us [w/video]

With around a month away from its world debut on September 8, Jaguar continues to issue a constant drip of updates about its upcoming XE compact luxury sedan that's aiming to take on the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. Where the company's last bit of info focused on the car's suspension setup, this time Jag's putting the spotlight on the new model's modular platform and making some big promises about it, too. How big? Try over 75 miles per gallon big.
That's the headline figure that Jaguar is claiming for its new sedan, but it's keeping mum on just what powertrain will realize that figure. Furthermore, that result is on the European test cycle, which is more lenient than America's EPA testing regime. In any case, when the XE hits the road, Jag says it will be the most efficient vehicle from the company, ever.
That's thanks in no small part to the aluminum-intensive monocoque chassis underpinning the sedan. It's constructed from a new grade of the lightweight metal called RC 5754 that uses a high portion of recycled material. "The Jaguar XE body uses over 75-percent aluminum content, which far exceeds any other car in its class. This gives us a body structure with unrivaled low weight: it's light but also immensely strong with extremely high levels of torsional stiffness," said Dr. Mark White, Jaguar Chief Technical Specialist; Body Complete.