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Jaguar may kill supercharged V6 to make way for inline-six

This could be the last year to score a Jaguar with the carmaker's 3.0-liter supercharged V6. Autocar reports that Jaguar deep-sixed the the XE S and XF S in the UK due to poor sales and difficulty coping with European emissions regulation changes taking place this year. The mag expects the XJ and F-Pace to lose the V6, too, but suspects the F-Type might retain the engine. It's possible, however, the bent-six with up to 380 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque might finally be retiring for a reason reported on for at least three years: To make way for a 3.0-liter inline-six from the Ingenium line of motors. In 2015, Motor Trend noted the supercharged V6 would die at the end of 2016, succeeded by a "more powerful Ingenium inline-six," likely to be turbocharged. One year later, Car laid out a new family of Ingenium inline-sixes in gasoline and diesel versions. There would be three gas options with 300, 400, and 500 horsepower, plus three diesels with 275, 335, and 400 hp and herds of torque. In Car's report, the engines were meant to be here in 2017. This could be the year it finally happens. A Jaguar spokesman in the UK told Autocar that an uptake of less than 2 percent on the S models, "Coupled with impending emissions regulation changes, it makes sense to remove these variants from sale in the UK." When Jalopnik asked Jaguar U.S. about availability here — we aren't a party to the imminent European emissions changes — the carmaker would only say that the engine remains available in the current XE, XF, XJ, F-Type and F-Pace. No matter the timeline, Jaguar would want a six-cylinder to fill the gap from the 296-hp Ingenium 2.0-liter four-cylinder to the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that starts at 470 hp. Jaguar expanded an area of its Wolverhampton, UK, engine factory to build the scalable Ingenium line. An inline-six would not only reconnect with Jaguar's past — and the firm's long-hooded cars remain ready to swallow them — the straight-six is lighter, has fewer moving parts, and emits less pollution than the supercharged V6. It is also compatible with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive, longitudinal and transverse mounting, and hybrid applications, so expect to see the motor migrate to the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Land Rover Discovery.

Jaguar's next turnaround plan outlines a major shift to upmarket luxury

Jaguar wants to reinvent itself again, this time as a purveyor of EVs that competes in the luxury space dominated by Bentley. It outlined a turnaround plan written to help it move upmarket while launching a new range of models. Company boss Thierry Bollore, a French industry veteran who briefly ran Renault in the late 2010s, told British magazine Auto Express he wants Jaguar to represent what he described as "modern luxury." He added his vision of modern luxury is "extremely reductive" in terms of refinement, modernity, engineering, and technologies. Jaguar said it will go EV-only, yet it scrapped the next-generation XJ at the 11th hour in 2021 because the sedan didn't fit its image of a re-imagined brand. Making Jaguar synonymous with "modern luxury" requires starting from scratch. "The situation at Jaguar was really a concern from outside," said Bollore after revealing Renault looked at purchasing Jaguar-Land Rover in the late 2010s, "and more than a concern from inside, because the brand has been damaged to a certain extent." That's why the turnaround plan calls for a blank slate to rebuild Jaguar on. Design work for an entirely new range of Jaguar models has been completed, the executive affirmed, and Auto Express speculates the portfolio will initially consist of three models: a two-door sports car (likely a follow-up to the F-Type) and a pair of crossovers. Note that there's no sedan on the horizon. These three cars will ride on the same modular architecture, though it's too early to tell if it will be developed in-house or shared with another carmaker. They'll wear a new design language that was forged by holding an internal contest three teams participated in. Competing with Bentley, among other carmakers, will require convincing customers to pay six-digit sums. "Luxury starts not far from GBP100,000," said Bollore, a figure which represents about $140,000 at the current conversion rate. As of writing, none of Jaguar's models start above $100,000, though some cross that threshold once options are piled on. Its cheapest model, the E-Pace, starts at $39,950. Its most expensive is the electric I-Pace at $69,850. No one would pay $140,000 for an E-Pace, even if it's electric and brimming with tech, so Jaguar's upcoming models will all be relatively large. That doesn't mean Bollore will put a leaping cat emblem on a Land Rover Range Rover and call it a good job well done. He wants to ensure the two sister brands coexist without overlapping.

Here’s how 20 popular EVs fared in cold-weather testing in Norway

Electric vehicles are known to suffer diminished performance in cold weather, but some do a better job than others hanging onto their range capacity while cabin heaters and frigid outdoor temperatures sap power from their batteries. Recently, the Norwegian Automobile Federation put the 20 of the best-selling battery-electric vehicles in the country to the test, to see not only how winter weather affected their range but also their charging times. The major findings: On average, electric vehicles lost 18.5% of their official driving range as determined by the European WLTP cycle. Electric vehicles also charge more slowly in cold temperatures. And interestingly, the researchers learned that EVs don’t simply shut down when they lose power but instead deliver a series of warnings to the driver, with driving comfort and speed levels maintained until the very last few miles. Because itÂ’s Norway, the worldÂ’s top market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by market share, the test included many EVs that arenÂ’t available here in the U.S. But there are many familiar faces, among them the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Models S, 3 and X, Hyundai Kona (known here as the Kona Electric) and Ioniq, and Audi E-Tron. In terms of range, the top-performing EV was the Hyundai Kona, which lost only 9% of its official range, which the WTLP rated at 449 kilometers, or 279 miles, compared to its EPA-rated range of 258 miles on a full charge. It delivered 405 km, just enough to nudge it ahead of the Tesla Model 3, which returned 404 km. Other top performers included the Audi E-Tron, in both its 50 Quattro (13% lower range) and higher-powered 55 Quattro (14% lower) guises; the Hyundai Ioniq (10% lower); and Volkswagen e-Golf (11% lower). At 610 km (379 miles) the Tesla Model S has the longest WLTP range of all models tested and went the furthest, but still lost 23% of its range, though it also encountered energy-sapping heavy snow at the end of its test, when many cars had dropped out. The Model 3 lost 28% of its range. The worst performer? That goes to the Opel Ampera-e, better known stateside as the Chevrolet Bolt. It traveled 297 km (about 184 miles) in the test, which was nearly 30% lower than its stated WLTP range. We should also note that Opel, now owned by Groupe PSA, is phasing the car out in Europe and that Chevy recently upgraded the Bolt here in the U.S.