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Jaguar Land Rover planning to allow owners to earn cryptocurrency

Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's largest auto manufacturer, said on Monday it is testing software that will allow drivers of its cars to earn the IOTA cryptocurrency as a reward for sharing data. The company is developing what it calls "smart wallet" technology to be installed in its automobiles. This would reward Jaguar car drivers with IOTA coins for actions such as enabling their vehicles to automatically report useful data, such as traffic congestion or potholes to navigation providers or local authorities. Drivers could also earn rewards if the car participates in a ride-sharing program, Jaguar said. The tokens earned could be used to pay for tolls, parking and charging for electric cars. The overall goal was to "achieve zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion," the company said. Global car companies are exploring blockchain applications, figuring out different ways in which they can leverage the technology to suit their different needs. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. The British car company is testing the technology at the new Jaguar Land Rover software engineering base in Shannon, Ireland, where engineers have already equipped several vehicles, including the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar, with "smart wallet" features, the company said. It does not yet have a timetable for when it will be commercially available, said Jaguar, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The IOTA token is based on a distributed ledger technology that enables people and machines to transfer money and data without any transaction fees. IOTA trades on digital asset exchanges and was last at 27 U.S. cents per token. "The smart wallet technology ... can be easily adapted into all new vehicles," Dominik Schiener, IOTA co-founder and co-chairman of its board, told Reuters on Friday. "IOTA wants to enable interoperability with all these different players. So there is no Jaguar coin, no BMW coin, but one universal token for this machine economy," he added.

Jaguar Heritage to auction off part of its classic-car collection

A few years back it was reported that Jaguar Land Rover had purchased the James Hull classic car collection in its entirety. The collection is beyond significant, as it was at the time of sale the biggest single collection of British cars in the world and the largest private car collection in the UK. Consisting of 543 cars, it ranged from the mundane to the obscure, including some extremely rare prototypes. There were 130 Jaguars, for example, from the C-type to the D-type to the XKSS. When the cars were put up for sale in 2014, the asking price was a not-insubstantial $170 million. JLR didn't reveal how much it spent to buy the cars, but now it seems the carmaker is about to recoup some of those costs. At least 50 cars from the collection will be sold by auction house Brightwells, as part of the Affordable Classics at Bicester sale on March 21; some reports have said JLR would be eventually offloading as many as 100 cars. Looking at the listing, there are some definite gems in there. Not all cars are British, as there are Citroens, Mercedes-Benzes, a Fiat and a Goggomobil. Jaguars and Land Rovers are notably absent from Brightwells' listing, which we take as a clue that the sale will consist of cars not crucial to JLR's wellbeing and heritage. That said, for a lover of British cars there's a possibility to grab something truly interesting: For example, the Reliant Scimitar Ferguson 4x4 Prototype must be worth preserving. A 4WD pioneer also known for Massey-Ferguson tractors, Ferguson fitted its system in Jensens as well as a prototype 4WD Mustang in the 1960s. The fiberglass-bodied Reliant sports car is an interesting sidenote in Ferguson's history. Then there's a Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS, which is a veritable rally-bred RWD hot hatch in comparison to the American market Chevrolet Chevette, its distant relative. On the hot hatch front, there are also Metro and Maestro turbos, which offer plenty of poke in a light, boxy body. Or if you view the internet's popular "Worst Cars Ever Made" lists as shopping lists, you could build your own collection of slightly dodgy cars: Start with the unfortunate-looking Vanden Plas Allegro, continue to the malaise-tastic Morris Ital Camper, and finish it off with a late-model Lada Riva wagon from the mid-1990s. Some cars are in tip-top shape, and some are best seen as restoration projects, like the very pretty Borgward Isabella coupe from 1960.

Jaguar flagship J-Pace crossover due in 2021

We've been talking about a Jaguar J-Pace crossover for four years. In 2016, the large luxury SUV version of the XJ sedan was expected to arrive this year and challenge the Audi Q8, BMW X7, and Mercedes GLS. More recent information from Autocar put the J-Pace's length at roughly 4.9 meters (193 inches), putting the English offering in a bracket with the Mercedes-Benz GLE and the Porsche Cayenne. Dynamics will be the priority, with the J-Pace intended to "beat the Porsche Cayenne at its own game." The Jaguar will supposedly do this with a novel hybrid powertrain arrangement on the launch vehicle. The new Ingenium turbocharged inline-six, expected to be the "mainstream" engine, will turn the front wheels, the rear axle turned by an electric motor. That setup will provide more interior room thanks to the lack of a center tunnel, as well as finer control of torque to the rear wheels for better bad-weather and soft-roading character. Autocar said electric and four-cylinder versions were possible although not confirmed. The magazine said traditional gasoline and diesel versions without the electric motor out back would likely come only in two-wheel drive. However, not only is the phrase "front-wheel drive Jaguar" a terrifically un-sexy string of words, but the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform has supposedly been developed for rear-wheel- and all-wheel-drive cars. The Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA), an evolution of the aged D8 platform, supports the Range Rover Evoque, but all JLR products are planned to migrate to the MLA by 2025. The MLA will come in high-rise, mid-height, and low-rise versions. Products like the coming Range Rover and Defender will utilize the high-rise version. The J-Pace will use the mid-height MLA, along with the rumored Road Rover. The Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar take the low-rise PLA. These tiers would put a J-Pace roofline beneath the six-foot-two-inch-tall Range Rover and make for a sleeker appearance. Autocar also says that the J-Pace will have more luggage capacity than the Range Rover, quite the trick since the Jaguar won't be as tall and will be around six inches shorter. If it arrives in 2021, the shape could define the next stage in Jaguar design; the next-generation F-Pace has been predicted for 2022, so it could fall into line established by the big brother.