Jaguar Land Rover and BMW team up on electric drivetrain design
The two luxury powerhouses are joining forces to drive down cost on electric powertrain development.
Developing new technology, or even improving existing technology, is an expensive proposition and in an automotive landscape of thin profit margins and increasing governmental regulations, more and more manufacturers are turning to the buddy system to get things done.
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW are the latest such companies to throw their lot in together on the development of future electric drivetrains, according to a JLR release Wednesday.
"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," Nick Rogers, engineering director for Jaguar Land Rover, said in a statement. "It was clear from discussions with BMW Group that both companies' requirements for next-generation EDUs to support this transition have significant overlap making for a mutually beneficial collaboration."
Now, keep in mind that this partnership will be more of an exchange of ideas and collaborative design process than anything. Both companies' drive units will be manufactured separately, in-house, but they'll share a supply chain and try to reduce component costs by pairing up their procurement processes.
