2020 Land Rover Discovery Landmark Edition V6 Supercharged on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar CEO says people just don't want EVs right now

"Customers are not impressed with it currently." These are the words of one Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, spoke at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Birmingham, England. The "it" Speth is referring to is battery technology, which he characterized as "too heavy, too expensive," and with power density that's "too low." That all could go some way towards explaining why the British automaker has yet to bring an electric vehicle to market, why it killed the C-X75 hybrid-turbine supercar project, and why it only recently started offering hybrid versions of its Range Rover models (and has yet to offer them in the United States). That doesn't mean the company won't pursue electric propulsion in the future, though. According to Automotive News Europe, Speth forecasts that "the next generation of batteries will be higher density, lower weight and the cost will come down." What he didn't say, exactly, is when he expects that next generation of battery tech to come around – or when JLR will start to more closely embrace electric propulsion. In the meantime, Jaguar Land Rover will continue investing in research and development. Since Tata acquired the brands from Ford seven years ago, JLR has quadrupled its R&D budget and doubled the number of engineers on staff. Related Video:

Jaguar Land Rover recalls Takata airbag-equipped cars

In the latest chapter of what feels like the never-ending recall, Jaguar Land Rover announced that it's calling back 2009-2011 Jaguar XFs and 2007-2011 Land Rover Range Rovers for defective Takata airbags on the front passenger side. These Takata airbags have propellant that may have degraded and, if activated, could release metal shrapnel. The company is breaking up the recall into four phases, since currently there are not enough parts to do a full recall. Since the airbags can be more seriously affected by high heat and humidity, the first phase will cover vehicles that were sold and/or registered in regions with high temperatures and humidity. The regions included are as follows: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. Other phases will begin as parts become available, and priority will be given to regions at greater risk of having defective equipment. Jaguar Land Rover encourages owners of affected vehicles to go to www.SaferCar.gov to check if their vehicle is included in the current recall. The first phase includes 54,000 of 108,000 affected vehicles. The company is also notifying owners of the issue, who will eventually get a second notification when parts are available so they can schedule a time to have the airbags replaced. Related Video:

Merecedes-Benz EQS, Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and Subaru Forester Wilderness | Autoblog Podcast #702

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. They've been driving some exciting new EVs, like the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and the Mercedes-Benz EQS. They also discuss driving the new Subaru Forester Wilderness, as well as the perfectly agreeable Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid. James compares four big-name off-roaders — the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota 4Runner and Land Rover Defender — based on their ability to accommodate a big load of luggage. Next they reach into the mailbag for comments on the Genesis GV70, as well as a Spend My Money question about replacing a wrecked Subaru Ascent with another three-row SUV. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #702 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving: 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness 2022 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid Luggage testing the off-roaders: Ford Bronco vs. Jeep Wrangler vs. Land Rover Defender vs. Toyota 4Runner  Mailbag: Thoughts on the Genesis GV70 Spend My Money: Three-row SUV to replace Subaru Ascent Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.