1987 Jaguar Xj6 Vanden Plas Sedan on 2040-cars

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Jaguar Land Rover building new Special Vehicle Operations facility

It's only been a couple of months since Jaguar Land Rover announced the formation of its new Special Operations division, and we've already seen a number of vehicles to come out of it. But now the British automaker has announced a new facility that will house its elite skunkworks department.
Set to be built at Prologis Park in Ryton, England, on the outskirts of Coventry, the new Special Vehicle Operations Technical Centre will encompass dedicated production lines, F1-style flexible workshops, a dedicated paint studio and VIP suite for commissioning bespoke projects. JLR will spend some $33 million on the facility that will be home to 150 specialists - 100 of them being new hires.
The first project which the Special Operations division is working on is the F-Type Project 7, but we've already seen more projects in the pipeline - including the upcoming Range Rover Sport SVR - and you can bet there'll be more. The revival of the Lightweight E-Type also falls under Special Operations, but is undertaken by the Jaguar Heritage department located nearby at Browns Lane.

Automotive Grade Linux will be the backbone of your connected car

Creating a backend for a secure, reliable, and expandable infotainment system is costly and time consuming. The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization, has set out to promote and advance the Linux operating system in commercial products. Automotive Grade Linux, or AGL, is a group within the Foundation that seeks to apply a Linux backend to a number of automotive applications in a variety of vehicles from various suppliers and manufacturers. AGL's goal is to create a common, unifying framework that allows developers and manufacturers to easily implement applications across platforms. Currently, the focus is on infotainment systems, but AGL has plans for instrument clusters, heads-up displays, and eventually active safety software. At CES, a display from Panasonic showed a completely digital and customizable dashboard that allows information and apps to be moved from the gauge cluster to the infotainment screen and back, all through the use of gesture and touch controls. Although the organization has been around for five years, it's really only been in the past three that the group has been working hand in hand with automakers and suppliers. The first two OEMs to participate, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, have since been joined by Mazda, Suzuki, Ford, and, as of this week, Daimler. The latter is important as until now most of AGL's partner's have been based in Japan or the US. Other partners include suppliers Denso, Renesas, Continental, Qualcomm, and Intel. AGL want's to supply roughly 80 percent of the backend, allowing partners to then finish and refine the Linux system for each individual application. Think of how the Android operating system is refined and customized for individual smartphones from Samsung, LG, and Motorola. While the final product looks different, developers can have an application that will work across all AGL systems. Because it is open source, anyone can use and develop for AGL. You can even go onto the group's website and download a copy right now. There is also a software development kit available that helps facilitate app creation on the platform. Vehicle development cycles take roughly five years, so there currently are no cars that run an AGL backbone available for consumers. AGL Executive Director Dan Cauchy says products should be hitting the market later this year, with even more coming in 2018. Right now, the industry is relatively fragmented when it comes to infotainment and related systems.

Jaguar teases four-door EV grand tourer; electric Range Rover orders open this year

Jaguar just revealed a few vital details about a new EV it says will be revealed by the end of 2023, and Land Rover shared a little update about its upcoming electric Range Rover, too. Starting with the Jag, JLR — the new, official name for Jaguar Land Rover — announced that its next electric vehicle will be a four-door GT car. The image above is the teaser the company provided. Power output will be greater than any previous Jaguar, with the current record holder being the XE SV Project 8 at just over 590 horsepower. Range is claimed to be about 430 miles on a full charge (Jaguar doesn't specify the test cycle type), but that number could be different (and likely lower) here in the United States once EPA testing takes place. Jaguar says the grand tourer will debut its new in-house EV platform that is officially named JEA, which is unrelated to the electric XJ that was scrapped a couple years ago. And lastly, Jaguar says the vehicle will start at GBP100,000 in Great Britain. Pricing for the United States wasnÂ’t estimated, but a direct conversion at todayÂ’s rates puts it at about $124,000. Considering the price point, power level and range, this Jaguar is shaping up to be a potential Porsche Taycan competitor. The single teaser image at the top of this post suggests the same, as the photo shows a car with a fast-sloping roofline and wide, bulging fenders. ItÂ’s an exciting teaser, as it pretty much confirms that Jaguar will be coming in hot with a spicy-looking electric four-door. The last detail about this Jag confirmed today is its production site, as Jaguar says it will build the vehicle at its Solihull plant in the West Midlands, England. As for the Range Rover news, weÂ’ve known an electric Range Rover was on its way, now we know that the vehicle will launch in 2025. JLR says it will begin accepting orders for the electric Range Rover later this year, but didnÂ’t set an official date. The electric Range Rover will be built at JLRÂ’s Halewood plant in Merseyside, England. Those are all the details we know about today, but expect more teasers and information leading up to the reveal of these new EVs later in 2023. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.