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Jaguar Land Rover planning to allow owners to earn cryptocurrency

Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's largest auto manufacturer, said on Monday it is testing software that will allow drivers of its cars to earn the IOTA cryptocurrency as a reward for sharing data. The company is developing what it calls "smart wallet" technology to be installed in its automobiles. This would reward Jaguar car drivers with IOTA coins for actions such as enabling their vehicles to automatically report useful data, such as traffic congestion or potholes to navigation providers or local authorities. Drivers could also earn rewards if the car participates in a ride-sharing program, Jaguar said. The tokens earned could be used to pay for tolls, parking and charging for electric cars. The overall goal was to "achieve zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion," the company said. Global car companies are exploring blockchain applications, figuring out different ways in which they can leverage the technology to suit their different needs. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. The British car company is testing the technology at the new Jaguar Land Rover software engineering base in Shannon, Ireland, where engineers have already equipped several vehicles, including the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar, with "smart wallet" features, the company said. It does not yet have a timetable for when it will be commercially available, said Jaguar, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The IOTA token is based on a distributed ledger technology that enables people and machines to transfer money and data without any transaction fees. IOTA trades on digital asset exchanges and was last at 27 U.S. cents per token. "The smart wallet technology ... can be easily adapted into all new vehicles," Dominik Schiener, IOTA co-founder and co-chairman of its board, told Reuters on Friday. "IOTA wants to enable interoperability with all these different players. So there is no Jaguar coin, no BMW coin, but one universal token for this machine economy," he added.

Jaguar XFR-S pitted against Mercedes E63 AMG

It was Steve Sutcliffe at Autocar who got the tough job of comparing the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG to the limited edition Jaguar XFR-S on the track and sheep-strewn British B-roads. In UK spec both Mephistophelean sedans wrangle the same 542 horsepower, but step out of the corral and things look to weigh heavily in the Mercedes' favor: it has more torque, it's lighter, it's quicker from 0-to-60 and it's less expensive.
But that's on paper. Sutcliffe was given the job to see what effect all those letters and numbers had on the real-world driving experience. One of them is "an absolute hoot at the track" with great steering and weight management, one is "magnificent." To find out which is which, watch the video below.

2017 Jaguar electric SUV to draw stylistically from C-X75

Jaguar is gearing up to launch its first all-electric model. And given the direction the industry is going – to say nothing of previous reports – it should come as little surprise that it'll be an SUV. And though details are few and far between at this point, some information is beginning to surface. According to British publication Autocar, the forthcoming electric crossover will draw its stylistic inspiration from the C-X75 concept. For those who may not recall (or haven't seen the new Bond flick), the C-X75 was Jaguar's idea for a hybrid hypercar to compete with the likes of the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, and LaFerrari. After initial plans for a turbine powertrain were scrapped in favor of a small twin-charged four-cylinder hybrid, plans for production were ultimately shelved. But the vehicle resurfaced for a starring role in the new 007 film Spectre. If the decision to put a defunct concept in a new movie struck you as odd, reports of the electric crossover's design direction may cast it in new light. By putting the C-X75's design in the public spotlight, Jaguar Land Rover could be preparing us for the SUV's arrival. But then that could prove entirely speculative at this point. The model is set to slot in, size-wise, beneath the new F-Pace, and join a new wave of electric crossovers coming to market. The Tesla Model X will be first when it launches next year, and Audi is expected to launch its Q6 E-Tron Quattro in 2018. The Jaguar could split the difference and surface as soon as 2017. Volvo is also tipped to be preparing an electric crossover based on the XC90 to follow in 2019 as well. It may be too early to speculate on the electric powertrain that will motivate the new Jaguar, tipped to be dubbed E-Pace. However reports that parent company Tata is developing lightweight electric in-wheel hub motors could give us an idea of the direction in which Jaguar could head. Expect it to borrow its aluminum platform from the XE and F-Pace, with production potentially to be undertaken by Magna Steyr in Austria. Of course, the E-Pace won't be the company's only EV. It has several prototypes in the works, and we can expect it to roll out additional production models in the coming year.