UK Govt. helps fund Jaguar and Land Rover hybrid tech

The UK government has offered Jaguar-Land Rover funding in order to speed up the development of emissions reducing technologies. The funding comes from the Technology Strategy Board, which is spending around £23 million ($45 million) on 16 various low carbon projects ranging across a field of industries and represents a little under half of the projects' total worth.

Jaguar and Land Rover are involved in several of these projects, including development of an electric-diesel hybrid suitable for a "large premium sport utility platform" - a not too subtle hint about what the future holds for Land Rover products in light of new emissions laws.

There are also plans to develop a kinetic energy recovery system for a premium vehicle, as well as a sub 120g/km CO2 large luxury vehicle in order to show that premium quality doesn't have to come at the behest of large engines. This will be done through Jaguar's expertise in aluminum body structures and an advanced hybrid driveline, with a view to using sustainable aluminum sheet derived from post consumer scrap.

Jaguar and Land Rover believe that this strategy will be a "key enabler for the mass production in the UK of low CO2 premium cars", and should allow the British manufacturers to compete with the likes of Mercedes and BMW as new emissions laws are rolled out in various regions.

Pictured above is the Land Rover Land-E hybrid concept from the 2006 New York Auto Show, which was designed to showcase the carmaker’s infant hybrid, plastic-construction, biodiesel and exhaust-heat recovery technologies.