Not only is Land Rover producing a new hybrid but Jaguar Land Rover as the complete company is known, has quite a few other environmental initiatives up its metaphorical sleeve.  Among the new technologies are an extended electric vehicle, and a new Flywheel Hybrid system.

In yesterday’s Land Rover article, I talked about the new ERAD-diesel hybrid that is being tested by Land Rover.  Jaguar Land Rover wants to take some of that technology and stretch it further while adding new environmentally friendly technology to the mix.

Not only has the company developed the electric-diesel powertrain, but it is also looking to developing a modular electric powertrain that can be scaled for different vehicles.  Jaguar Land Rover is also looking into plug in possibilities and infrastructure for its vehicles.

Another area that is being researched is creating a new Flywheel-variable drive system to recapture kinetic energy during breaking.  This system would be used in passenger cars as an alternative to other regenerative braking systems currently in use in existing hybrids.

Jaguar already uses lightweight aluminum for the body of its cars, but would like to take this one step further.  Within the next five years, Jaguar hopes to be able to show that creating mass produced cars using aluminum sheeting that incorporates recycled post consumer waste is not only feasible but cost effective.

In creating its next generation of lower CO2 emitting luxury cars, Jaguar is also looking into new types of engines and battery systems.  One such project is called “Limo-Green”.  This project involves creating high quality large premium cars with hybrid electric driveline.  The driveline would incorporate an advanced drive motor, small battery pack and a small auxiliary power generator for sustained cruising.

Further modifications would include a highly-downsized petrol engine with two-stroke/four-stroke switching technology.  This would allow Jaguar’s to retain their performance level while cutting down on CO2 emissions by 20-30%.

Jaguar Range Rover’s future technological innovations will allow the company to continue to produce high quality luxurious vehicles that are more environmentally friendly than cars are today.  All of this new technology should prompt other luxury car makers to follow its lead.

Via Jaguar Land Rover

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Entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 4:15 pm under Auto, Green Technology, Science and technology, Technology.

Read more entries by Susan Wilson.
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