Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Group collaborate to develop future electrification technology

Jaguar Land Rover and the BMW Group are colloborating to develop the next generation of Electric Drive Units (EDUs).

The strategic partnership will support the advancement of electric vehicles and form a central part of the transition to an Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared (ACES) future.

Working together will allow both companies to expand their electrification knowledge and expertise, as both have proven their capability of bringing premium electric vehicles to market. Jaguar has designed and engineered the much-acclaimed I-PACE, while BMW has developed and produced several generations of its EDUs in-house since launching the i3 in 2013. 

Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover Engineering Director, says the pace of change and consumer interest in electrified vehicles is gaining real momentum, and it’s essential the business works across industry to advance the technologies required to deliver this exciting future.

“We’ve proven we can build world beating electric cars but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land Rover products,” he adds. 

“It was clear from discussions with the BMW Group that both companies’ requirements for next generation EDUs to support this transition have significant overlap making for a mutually beneficial collaboration.”

Klaus Fröhlich, BMW’s Chief of Engineering, said the industry is going through a steep transformation, and that collaboration is the key to success, adding:

“With Jaguar Land Rover, we found a partner whose requirements for the future generation of EDUs significantly matched ours. Together we have the opportunity to cater more effectively for customer needs by shortening development time and, bringing vehicles and state-of-the-art technologies more rapidly to market.”

The agreement will enable both Jaguar Land Rover and the BMW Group to take advantage of efficiencies arising from shared research and development, and production planning as well as economies of scale from joint procurement across the supply chain.

Starting next year, the BMW Group will introduce its fifth generation EDU (Gen 5), which will feature on the new BMW iX3. A joint team of engineers from both companies in Munich will develop and evolve the Gen 5 power units, with each partner developing the systems to deliver the specific characteristics required for their respective range of products

The Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, will be tasked with building these units, and will combine their work with the Battery Assembly Centre at Hams Hall, Birmingham, to supply electrified powertrains to each of Jaguar Land Rover’s global plants.

Gallery