Jaguar launch large electric limo to replace XJ

Jaguar launch large electric limo to replace XJ – The Jaguar’s new limousine will be de-facto XJ replacement but larger and more luxurious.

It was previously understood that Jaguar’s new four-seat grand tourer, launching in 2025, would be followed into dealerships by a pair of luxury crossovers. 

But now a source familiar with the new models says that while one of the other two cars is indeed a Bentley Bentayga-sized flagship SUV, the other is actually an imposing limousine. Conceived in the mould of the XJ, albeit heavily redesigned, substantially larger and much more luxurious. 

All three cars will sit on the long-wheelbase JEA electric vehicle platform. This is being developed exclusively for use by new-era Jaguar models. 

Talking recently to Autocar, JLR CEO Adrian Mardell says the Jaguar brand needed its own architecture. “Otherwise, it doesn’t quite look as potent and exuberant as you would wish it to. This wheelbase and this architecture will deliver the design intent.”

Priced from between £100,000 and £125,000, the three cars will come equipped with four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and ultra-fast charging capacity. This will allow for a 10-80% top-up time of just 13 minutes. 

Early details suggest each will produce no less than 450bhp, sprint from 0-62mph in between 3.0sec and 3.8sec, top out at 155mph and offer ranges of at least 385 miles and up to 475 miles. 

Before ex-JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré’s Reimagine plan was introduced, Jaguar had been developing an electric XJ that was based on the Range Rover’s MLA platform. This was originally due for launch by 2022. But the project was scrapped when the car was deemed incompatible with the wider plan for Jaguar. 

That car has never been revealed. Jaguar had given no indication of its performance potential before the programme was halted in 2021.

It’s likely, however, that its replacement’s impressive figures are only possible because of significant advancements in battery, motor and charging hardware in the intervening years. 

Not only will they make the new electric saloon immediately one of the most advanced cars in its segment when it is launched, but they should also ensure that the model remains at the cutting edge until the next step-change in the development of electric drivetrain technology. 

Autocar’s source said the saloon and its range-mates are unrelated to every car Jaguar has launched so far and bear little resemblance to the artists’ impressions that have been circulating since the brand’s reinvention plans were first made public. 

Perhaps most surprising of the details obtained by Autocar is that the new models no longer bear the leaping cat emblem. The emblem has adorned most of the Coventry-based firm’s cars since the end of the Second World War. 

Instead, the Jaguar name will be spelled out across the front and rear in a new font, which is emblematic of the granular approach that bosses are taking with the brand’s reinvention programme. 

Chief creative officer Gerry McGovern’s pledge that the cars will be “a copy of nothing” (itself based on a quote by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons) is clearly being followed to the letter. 

all current Jaguar models will have to come off sale by 2025 because they will look nothing like their replacements. 

“When we launch our new JEA platform, the change from today on Jaguar is very dramatic,” he said. “We don’t want older-looking cars and newer-looking cars.” To that end, the silhouette of each new Jaguar will be a radical departure from that of even its most closely related predecessor. 

For example, while the large electric limousine at the heart of the proposed three-strong model range is best thought of as a spiritual successor to the XJ, it won’t ape the swooping three-box shape shared by each of that car’s five generations. 

Instead, Autocar’s source indicates that it will adopt a radically minimalist new look with no obvious inspiration from any model past or present. Described as comparable in size to the Bentley Mulsanne, which was 5575mm long as standard. The new saloon will have a low-slung silhouette defined by sharp surfacing and generous proportions. 

The flat front end will host ultra-slim LED headlights arranged in a distinctive new pattern around a non-functional grille-style structure. The structure that will come to be known as the new face of Jaguar. 

It will be joined at a near-90deg angle to an expansive, probing bonnet that’s said to be longer than that of any previous Jaguar. 

Other defining features of both the saloon and its GT and SUV stablemates include a ‘floating’ roof effect achieved by black A- and B-pillars. Also striking 22in alloy wheel designs and a range of overtly luxurious paint options including brushed gold and silver. 

The tail-lights, meanwhile, are said to be integrated into ultra-thin slits that run across the wide-arched rear end. Additionally they will be ‘invisible’ when the cars are turned off, as is the case with the latest Range Rover. None of the three cars will feature a rear window, in a move mirroring that of Swedish EV maker Polestar.