JLR’s factory upgrades keep ICE, PHEV, and BEV options open

On 26 September 2024, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced that it will invest £500m (US$667m) to upgrade a legacy factory in Halewood, UK. Intended to prepare the site for battery electric vehicle (BEV) production in parallel with internal combustion engines (ICE) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), half the total has already been spent on retooling and reskilling.

Specific upgrades include adding 750 autonomous robots, lengthening the production line from 4km to 6km, incorporating a cloud-based digital management system and advanced driver assistance system calibration rigs. JLR states that the “transformation” took 12 months to complete. The remaining £250m will be spent on ongoing factory updates, including the gradual incorporation of renewable power sources and a focus on energy reduction.