1992 Land Rover Defender on 2040-cars

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BMW and Jaguar Land Rover to jointly develop electric car tech

FRANKFURT – BMW and Jaguar Land Rover on Wednesday said they will jointly develop electric motors, transmissions and power electronics, unveiling yet another industry alliance designed to lower the costs of developing electric cars. Both carmakers are under pressure to roll out zero-emission vehicles to meet stringent anti-pollution rules, but have struggled to maintain profit margins faced with the rising costs of making electric, connected and autonomous cars. "Together, we have the opportunity to cater more effectively for customer needs by shortening development time and bringing vehicles and state-of-the-art technologies more rapidly to market," said BMW board member Klaus Froehlich. BMW and Jaguar Land Rover said they will save costs through shared development, production planning and joint purchasing of electric car components. Both companies will produce electric drivetrains in their own manufacturing facilities, BMW said. The BMW Jaguar Land Rover pact comes as rivals FiatChrysler and Renault explore a $35 billion tie-up of the Italian-American and French carmaking groups. Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover's engineering director said, "We've proven we can build world beating electric cars but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land Rover products." BMW was in talks with rival Daimler about developing electric car components but was also in discussions with Jaguar Land Rover, a company it once owned, to explore an alliance on engines. BMW already has a deal to supply an 8 cylinder engine to Jaguar Land Rover. Carmakers are increasingly open to sharing electric car parts because the technology is expensive and because customers no longer buy a car based on what engine a vehicle has. "Carmakers are much less precious about sharing electric car technology because it is much harder to create product differentiation with electric car tech. They all accelerate fast, and everybody can do quality and ride and handling," according to Carl-Peter Forster a former chief executive of Tata Motors and a former BMW executive. Jaguar Land Rover is still run by former BMW managers, including Ralf Speth the company's chief executive who spent 20 years at BMW prior to joining JLR, and Wolfgang Ziebart, the engineer who oversaw Jaguar's I-Pace electric car program, who is a former head of research and development at BMW.

A hybrid and electric Corvette, plus we drive the Ioniq 5 | Autoblog Podcast #728

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. Zac drove the electric 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Greg drove the fire-breathing 2022 Maserati Levante Trofeo. The two dive deep into the relatively heavy news week by starting off with a discussion about the upcoming hybrid Corvette before chatting about what the electric Corvette might be like. They have a chat about the possibility of Porsche and Audi officially joining the Formula 1 field. Then, Greg and Zac get into some quick-hitting news to round out the segment by dissecting the updated Kia Soul (now without a turbo), the 30th Anniversary Edition Land Rover Defender and the new CEO at Aston Martin. Following the news and drive reviews, they rope in Senior Editor, Green John Beltz Snyder to give them a quick download of what went down at the first drive for the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning. Finally, they reach into the mailbag and answer some questions from someone who is less than pleased about infotainment systems in some new cars. And lastly, the gang hears back from someone they helped out in a prior Spend My Money segment on the podcast. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #728 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown News The hybrid AWD Corvette and the electric Corvette Audi and Porsche to enter Formula 1 Land Rover Defender 30th Anniversary model 2023 Kia Soul refresh A new CEO at Aston Martin Cars we're driving 2022 Maserati Levante Trofeo 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dispatch from the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning first drive in Texas Mailbag: A discussion about complicated infotainment systems Also, trading a Model 3 for an Escape PHEV? Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives.

Kahn and Evanta team up for hot-rod Defender, custom Barchetta

If you're familiar with the work of Afzal Kahn, it's probably for his tuned Range Rovers. And if you live in London, you may have seen his Bugatti Veyron with the F1 license plate. But the British tuner and self-styled "automotive fashion designer" is now embarking on a far more ambitious project. Kahn is teaming up with Ant Anstead of Evanta fame – responsible for rebodying Aston Martin DB7s to look like DB4 GTs and that full-scale DBR1/2 model kit – on a new outfit called Ant-Kahn. Far more than a tuning endeavor, Ant-Kahm is setting about creating truly unique (and uniquely British) automobiles. Their first project is called the Flying Huntsman, a long-nose Land Rover Defender that we imagine will emerge as something like a British take on the 1998 Jeepster concept crossed with something Icon might concoct. It'll pack a 6.2-liter GM LS3 V8 producing 550 horsepower, mated to a push-button six-speed automatic transmission, mounted close to the bulkhead with over 15 inches of extra bodywork and set to be unveiled within the coming months. Their second collaboration is set to yield the Evanta Barchetta previewed by rendering above. "Inspired by the design language of 1950s motorsport," the Barchetta pays homage to classic British and Italian roadsters. It's being built around a tubular frame with handcrafted composite Kevlar bodywork and powered by that same LS3 tuned to 450 hp but in a much lighter form than the Flying Hunstman. Only 20 examples will be made after its debut at the Goodwood Revival come September. An Aston Martin project codenamed WB12 is also in the works, painting a picture of an ambitious startup backed by two experienced operators whose projects we're looking forward to seeing come to fruition. Ant-Kahn – The birth of a groundbreaking collaboration between two leading figures in the UK automotive industry. Ant-Kahn is a collaborative partnership between Afzal Kahn - innovative automotive fashion designer and founder of the Kahn group of companies, and Ant Anstead, founder of expert vehicle manufacturer Evanta, and star of Channel 4's "For The Love of Cars". Working together under the Ant-Kahn banner, they will lead a resurgence in British specialist vehicle manufacture, with a number of projects already underway. Their focus is on luxury and quality, using modern prototyping and manufacturing technology, while maintaining the attention to details associated with traditional coach building.