BMW and Jaguar Land Rover join forces on electric drivetrain development

New co-operation formed to lower cost of electric vehicle development

BMW and Jaguar Land Rover have announced they will co-operate on the development of next-generation technology for pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The two companies will jointly develop electric drive systems, which BMW and Jaguar Land Rover refer to as EDUs (electric drive units), in a move they say will significantly lower the cost of development in an area of growth that has seen big investment from car makers in recent years.

Confirmation of the German-Anglo alliance follows a growing trend within the global automotive industry as car makers seek to lower the cost of electric vehicle development through technical co-operations.

The co-operation, which includes joint investment in research and development, engineering and procurement, draws on BMW’s expertise in producing EDUs in-house since the launch of the i3 in 2013 and Jaguar’s success with its first dedicated electric model, the I-Pace.

In a statement, BMW said the two car makers “share the same strategic vision of environmentally friendly and future-orientated electric drive technologies.

A joint team of BMW and Jaguar Land Rover engineers located in Munich, Germany will work together to develop a range of different EDUs. They are based on the Gen 5 units already partly developed by BMW for its next generation of electric vehicles.  

Each will be responsible for their own power electronics systems to “deliver the specific characteristics required for their respective range of products,” read Jaguar Land Rover’s statement.

BMW board member for R&D, Klaus Fröhlich, commented: “The automotive industry is undergoing a steep transformation. We see collaboration as a key to success, also in the field of electrification. With Jaguar Land Rover, we found a partner whose requirements for the future generation of electric drive units significantly match ours. 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.”

Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover engineering director added: “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. 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.”

The new jointly developed EDUs will be produced by BMW and Jaguar Land Rover at their respective plants.

BMW is yet to disclose where it will build its EDUs. However, it is widely speculated that the German car maker is set to expand drivetrain manufacturing activities at its factory in Hams Hall, England. This would place its production close to that of Jaguar Land Rover’s existing Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, England.

Neither BMW nor Jaguar Land Rover has provided a timeframe for when the first developments of their EDU co-operation are planned to see production, although insiders suggest they may take up to three or four years. Similarly, no volume projection has been announced but with economies of scale paramount to cost savings, it is likely to be substantial.

The financial terms of the co-operation have not been revealed.

Both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover plan extended electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle line-ups.

BMW has already confirmed it will introduce the iX3, i4 and a production version of its iNext SUV concept before the end of 2021.

Jaguar Land Rover says it will launch a plug-in hybrid version of the new second-generation Evoque and Discovery Sport within the next 12 months.

The announcement of the co-operation comes after Jaguar Land Rover reported a $US4.6 billion loss over its last financial year amid persistent rumours of a possible purchase of the British car maker by the PSA Group.