Jaguar Hybrid Range To Launch In 2013: Report

FOLLOWING confirmation early last year that the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover company is developing new hybrid systems, Land Rover's unveiling of its Range_e prototype last week has sparked new reports of an upcoming Jaguar hybrid, due in 2013.

The two brands have been working on hybrid technology thanks to a £307 million ($636m) loan from the European Investment Bank, and Jaguar has so far confirmed that a petrol-electric hybrid version of the new Jaguar XJ is in development.

According to a new report by British magazine car, Jaguar's hybrid range will include versions of the XJ and XF, set to appear on the market around the same time as Land Rover's hybrid models in 2013-2014.

Jaguar's chief engineer Kevin Stride confirmed last year Jaguar's hybrid system will focus on an electric motor as its main source of power, with a small traditional petrol engine functioning as a backup.

Stride pointed to conventional hybrid systems as "inefficient", describing the more familiar petrol-engine hybrids as "less efficient than an electric motor. You want your most efficient motor driving the wheels."

Jaguar's engineering boss said that conventional internal combustion engines are at their best when running at a constant RPM, and Jaguar would set its backup petrol engine for just that sort of use.