Automobile giants Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and BMW Group will collaborate to develop electric vehicles and the concerned technology in the segment, according to a regulatory filing by Tata Motors, the owner of JLR.
"Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Group on Wednesday confirmed they are joining forces to develop the next generation Electric Drive Units (EDUs) in a move that will support the advancement of electrification technologies, a central part of the automotive industry's transition to an ACES (autonomous, connected, electric, shared) future," the filing said.
The collaboration will build on the knowledge and expertise in electrification at both companies, it said.
"A team of Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Group experts will engineer the EDUs with both partners developing the systems to deliver the specific characteristics required for their respective range of products.
The electric driving units or the vehicles would be manufactured by each partner in their own production facilities. Jaguar Land Rover will manufacture at its Wolverhampton-based Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC)Tata Motors filing
Nick Rogers, Director, Jaguar Land Rover Engineering said the transition to ACES represented the "greatest technological shift" in the automotive industry in a generation and the pace of change and consumer interest in electric vehicles was gathering momentum.
Commenting on the partnership he said: "It was clear from our discussions with BMW Group that both companies' requirements for next generation EDUs to support this transition have a significant overlap making for a mutually beneficial collaboration."
BMW has made a slew of electric vehicles till date, and there have been strong rumours that might launch the i3 electric hatchback in India in the near future. Jaguar Land Rover has already confirmed that its E-Pace electric SUV will be coming to India in 2020.
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