Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will build “one of the UK’s largest battery assembly centres of its kind” in the English Midlands.
The announcement— made as JLR confirmed it was cutting its global workforce by around 4,500 people— said the battery centre would use “new production techniques and technologies to manufacture battery packs for future Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles”.
Batteries from the new centre, in North Warwickshire, will power next-generation electric drive units (EDUs) to be produced at the company’s Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, JLR said,
JLR said the battery investment and “transformation measures” confirmed on 10 January aimed to build “on unprecedented growth achieved by JLR over the past decade”.
A JLR spokesperson told BEST Battery Briefing the company would release details about the battery assembly centre— such as technology and production capacity— “at a later date”.
In the last year, the company’s global product portfolio has expanded to include the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE. The I-PACE’s 90kWh battery is constructed of high energy density lithium-ion pouch cells.
JLR’s CEO Professor Dr Ralf Speth (pictured): “Decisive action will help deliver resilient long-term growth as Jaguar Land Rover implements cost and profit improvements. This will safeguard our future and enable vital ongoing investment into autonomous, connected, electric.”
