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Jaguar's Callum: 'Huge' opportunities with electric vehicles

Eventually, some brave innovator, with an imagination light years ahead of the rest of us mere mortals, will envision an automotive future that the rest of us can't conceive. This person will step up and tell us how electric vehicles have the potential to change our lives for the better. They'll have the guts to tell us that if we could only open our eyes, we'd see that there's a way to get from one place to another that doesn't pollute the air we breathe. They'll explain that it won't just be globally responsible, it'll be magnificent. Yes, the electric car needs a champion, a figurehead, someone so inspirational that comic book superheroes are modeled after him. Finally, that champion has revealed himself. Saying out loud what the enlightened few of us know but dare not utter for fear of ridicule, our hero has spoken. "Electrification will kickstart the biggest change in automotive design in history," Ian Callum, design director at Jaguar told Autocar. That Jaguar sees the potential for electric vehicles is welcome progress. Sarcasm aside, that Jaguar sees the potential for electric vehicles is welcome progress. Even more appealing is that Callum approaches the potential of EVs from a design angle, where the slate is essentially blank, he feels, and so much is possible. "The opportunities an electric powertrain offers are huge," Callum says, "especially in terms of the space for occupants. By removing so much of the mechanical hardware and placing the batteries in the floor plan you open up all sorts of possibilities with packaging." To peer into Callum's mind when it comes to EV design would be extraordinary to behold. In many ways, his vision truly is something most of us cannot grasp completely, having spent a long career designing some of the most desirable cars of our time for some of the most prestigious automotive brands on the planet. So when he talks about the freedom EVs present from a design standpoint, it's not difficult to get excited. A Jaguar EV isn't as far-fetched as it might seem at first. Plus, a Jaguar EV isn't as far-fetched as it might seem at first, as Callum explains. "I'm clear in my mind that an electric Jaguar would be suitable for the brand," he says. "You have to move with the times and design for the opportunities. Look at the C-X75 concept – that was a car that was designed for an alternative powertrain, and nobody had any complaints about how that looked.

Freelander name making jump from old Land Rover model to new EV brand

The Jaguar Land Rover House of Brands is about to grow by one. JLR signed a Letter of Intent to license a new brand called Freelander to its Chinese joint-venture partner of 12 years, Chery. For those who missed it, Land Rover sold a compact four-wheel-drive model called the Freelander or LR2, depending on market and generation, from 1997 to 2015. The Freelander didn't get the best press, but that didn't stop it from being popular because, before the Evoque, it was the least expensive way to get into something bearing the green oval. The moniker's rebirth will also apply to "mainstream" products, this time pure-electric vehicles outside of JLR's or Chery's current lineups. What's more, the Freelander range won't be limited to China, although JLR wouldn't say how long it would be before international markets could expect Freelander arrival.  They new cars will be designed by teams from both automakers and sit on Chery's E0X battery-electric architecture. Car News China reports that the E0X can support an 800-volt architecture, Level 3 autonomous driving, and air suspension setups. The platform also plays nice with range-extended EVs, a powertrain type enjoying the same upswing in popularity over there as in other markets. Autocar writes that extended-range EV sales from January 2023 to September 2023 rose 157% over the same span in 2022. Chery's Luxeed R7, above, sits on E0X bones. The Luxeed R7 EV comes in single- and dual-motor variants from 288 horsepower to 489 hp, and offers a maximum range of 531 miles on the Chinese cycle. Previous to this new announcement, Chery said it would also share its M3X platform with the Chery Jaguar Land Rover collaboration, the vehicle structure said to have been developed with Magna International. The M3X is suited to internal combustion and PHEV powertrains. JLR's press release specifies that for now, Freelander will be "an advanced portfolio of electric vehicles," so it's possible future Freelanders will expand powertrain options once the electric lineup gains momentum, or the M3X might be applied to a different set of products.

Land Rover planning SVX hardcore off-roaders

The new Special Vehicle Operations division at Jaguar Land Rover has already given us an array of ultimate wheeled creations, but it isn't quite done yet. Next, according to Car and Driver, will be a new line of SVX models. Not to be confused with the Subaru coupe from the 1990s (which also had all-wheel drive, come to think of it), Land Rover's SVX models will be hardcore off-roaders. Details are few and far between at the moment, but they're said to take inspiration from rough-terrain events like the Dakar Rally and Camel Trophy as inspiration – different from the Ford F-150 Raptor that takes its cues from the Baja 1000. Last we heard, Land Rover was planning a hardcore Defender to send the model off to pasture in high-performance style, and considering an extreme Range Rover as well. If either of those rumors materialize, they look like they'd be prime candidates for the SVX line. JLR Special Vehicle Operations has already showcased what it can do with the high-performance Range Rover Sport SVR, the luxed-up Range Rover SVAutobiography, the exclusive F-Type Project 7 and the continuation classic Lightweight E-Type. C/D confirms that further SVR models are in store to replace Jaguar's R-S performance models, while the SVX line would likely remain exclusive to Land Rover.