Monday, April 13, 2009

Tata to Build Extended Range Electric Jaguars

There were more than a few rumors some months ago about a strangely silent Jaguar that had been filmed at the Nurburgring and considerable speculation took place on dedicated blogs on the subject at the time. Now, Autoblog Green has confirmed that Jaguar have an extended range electric version of their XJ under development: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/04/12/jaguar-to-build-extended-range-ev-version-of-new-xj-in-2011/ My first reaction is to congratulate the Tatas on this. Yes, an Indian company that has bought a leading Norwegian Electric Vehicle Engineering business, offered Electric only versions of its Indica for sale in Europe and which is also collaborating with various other technology developers like the designers of the French Air Car, was not going to let an opportunity to use this technology on its prize brand, Jaguar, go idle. The speed with which the Tatas have gone ahead, needs to be praised.

Yes, there are the usual idiots screaming about problems with the cars before they have been built, skeptics who claim that the Tatas have no money - they just got a huge loan for Jaguar today - and those who just say that this can't be done. I remember a lot of clowns saying this about the Nano too. I cannot, but laugh at the collective "expertise" of these dolts and must thank Autoblog Green too for bringing this news from Autocar magazine to their huge readership. I shall be eagerly watching this development process.

3 comments:

Mohanakrishnan B said...

Mehul
The Tata group seems to be hell bent on filling their coffers at any cost.I give more credence to the news that Maruti Suzuki intends launching hybrid cars (electric/cng) within the next five years. The reason for the long gap is explained by Suzuki MD Shinzo Nakanishi. The current range of 120 km for an electric car is for one person only. Add a couple of passengers and the range drops drastically. The link to the report is http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2929279
Say what you will. When a company like Suzuki says something, they will deliver. It might take time but it will be worth it.

Mohanakrishnan B said...

Mehul
Here is an opinion on the Tata Nano. Check out http://money.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?sid=10&cid=58&articleid=8266

Wait a while and you could probably get a hybrid from Suzuki!

mehulkamdar said...

It would take a lot of faith (and a dose of stupidity) in Suzuki to give their claims more credence than Jaguar, who are now owned by Tata. For all the bullshit that Suzuki bandy about, their only real markets are in India and Pakistan. And nowhere else in the world does anyone look up to a Suzuki as his next car to buy. Jaguars happen to be very desirable cars anywhere in the world when last I looked.

So what are Tata to do? Give cars away free? They are a business and they have to look at making as much money as they can. Outlook? Yes, I do check out Vinod Mehta's COngress PArty butt-wipe from time to time. In the end it is more fun to laugh at the ninsense that he bandies about than it is to believe anything that he publishes. Not very long ago, for example, the moron slammed SOuth Indians and SOuth Indian Brahmins in particular in his magazine and then apologised. Some time later, he slandered M S Subbulakshmi and then apologised again. And he was responsible for promoting cheats like David Davidar as well . . .

Oh well, there are those who believe in a flat earth as well. The facts do not matter when faith and belief come into play . . .