1999 Jaguar Xk8 Base Convertible 2-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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Nearly-ready electric Jaguar XJ gets scrapped even as JLR announces its EV push

A smattering of news from Jaguar Land Rover landed this morning concerning the brands’ electric futures. One sentence partway through JaguarÂ’s long press release caught our eye, though, and it has to do with the Jaguar XJ. “Although the nameplate may be retained, the planned Jaguar XJ replacement will not form part of the lineup, as the brand looks to realize its unique potential,” the press release states. If youÂ’ve been following Jaguar XJ news, youÂ’d know that Jaguar planned on making the next-generation XJ a fully electric car. ItÂ’s been in development for several years. Jaguar has been talking it up pre-reveal, and weÂ’ve even spied the car out testing a couple times. We were expecting a debut event for this new electric XJ to happen any time now. Theoretically, it should fit in perfectly with JaguarÂ’s vision to sell 100% electric cars by 2030, right? Apparently not, because itÂ’s dead. We contacted Jaguar to get a better explanation for what is going on here. Jaguar XJ 1 View 10 Photos When queried, a spokesperson sent us this in response: “Following a thorough technology review against the exponential change in the automotive industry, we concluded that the planned XJ replacement does not fit with our vision for a re-imaged Jaguar brand. We have made the tough decision that it will not form part of the lineup, as the brand looks to realize its unique potential. However, the nameplate may be retained.” To make doubly sure that Jaguar is indeed throwing out a nearly-ready EV the same day it announces an all-EV future, we asked again, and Jaguar confirmed. “We were working on an XJ EV, but have moved on to a different approach for the entire Jaguar EV lineup vision based around a new unique Jaguar EV dedicated platform, all due in 2025,” a spokesperson sent us. So there you have it. The electric XJ was said to be built on the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform, and Jaguar touted it as "the world's first, full-electric luxury sports saloon.” Now that thereÂ’s a new Jaguar-dedicated EV platform in the works, the XJ on the MLA platform is canned. We asked Jaguar for more details about the why of this situation, and the above, quoted explanation hints at it. Maybe the “technology review” found that the car Jag was putting together just didnÂ’t measure up to the competition? The new platform will certainly offer much better performance and range than JaguarÂ’s current technology is capable of.

Cadillac CTS-V and Suzuki e-Survivor | Autoblog Podcast #527

This week, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by General Manager Adam Morath. They discuss driving the Cadillac CTS-V and talk about the Suzuki e-Survivor concept. Other news includes possible Jaguar Land Rover acquisitions, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and the Autoblog Car Finder. Autoblog Podcast #527 Your browser does not support the audio element. Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Topics and stories we mention Rundown Jaguar Land Rover acquisitions? Suzuki e-Survivor concept Tesla Model 3 Autoblog Car Finder tool Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Cadillac CTS-V What we've been driving: Jaguar F-Pace Ken Block's "Climbkhana" Spend my money Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Green Podcasts Cadillac Jaguar Jeep Suzuki Electric Performance Videos Sedan jaguar land rover

Why this could be the perfect time for Apple to make a car play

While the automotive and technology worlds have been pouring billions into autonomous vehicles (AVs) and preparing to bring them to market soon as shared robo-taxis, Apple has mostly sat on the sidelines. Of course, Apple is the last company to ever make its intentions known, and the super-secret tech cult giant hasn't been totally out of the AV game based on the clues that have slipped out of its Cupertino, Calif., citadel over the past few years. Related: Apple self-driving cars are real — one was just in an accident News first broke in 2015 that it had assembled an automotive development team, in part by poaching high-profile talent from car companies, to work on a top-secret self-driving vehicle project code-named Titan. (Thank you very much, Nissan.) Apple also subsequently broke cover by making inquiries into using a Northern California AV testing facility and receiving a permit to test AVs on public roads in California. But then as the AV race started to heat up in the last few years, Apple reportedly began scaling back its car activities by downsizing team Titan. More recently, Apple's car project has shown signs of life with the hiring a high-level engineer away from Waymo and luring one Tesla's top engineers and a former employee back to Apple. It also inked a deal with Volkswagen to provide a technology platform and software to convert the automaker's new T6 Transporter vans into autonomous shuttles for employees at tech company's new campus. That is a far cry from giving rides to Wal-Mart shoppers, like Waymo is doing as part of its AV testing in Phoenix. But this could be the perfect time for Apple to enter the AV market now that ride-sharing is reaching critical mass and automakers and others are planning to deploy fleets of robo-taxis. Apple could easily establish a niche as a high-end ride-sharing service – and charge a premium – given its cult-like brand loyalty and design savvy. The growth of car subscription models could also play in Apple's favor since is already has many people hooked on paying for phones in monthly installments – and eager to upgrade when a new and better model becomes available. To achieve this, some believe Apple will fulfill co-founder and CEO Steve Job's dream of building a car. And as the world's first and only $1 trillion company it's sitting on a mountain of cash that certainly gives it the means. But other tech darlings like Tesla and Google have discovered how difficult it can be to build cars at scale.