Public Funding for MTC (UK) Limited

"Jaguar Land Rover is leading an exciting research project to investigate and develop strategies and capability to convert internal combustion engine manufacturing facilities to also make electric drive units for hybrid and electric vehicles. The company's engineers will work with industrial partners, Mapal, JW Froehlich, Fives Landis and Horizon and with the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the High-speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute and Birmingham City University to ensure that its state-of-the-art manufacturing machinery, systems and processes are flexible enough to manufacture both internal combustion engine and electric drive units efficiently along the same production line. This ambitious and highly innovative project will deliver manufacturing flexibility at a time when the exact speed of the changeover to electric motoring remains uncertain. If car buyers want more electric cars than expected, Jaguar Land Rover will be able to ramp up supply quicker than some of its rivals. If demand for diesel and petrol persists for longer, there will be no expensive electric drive factory sitting idle. The project will also ensure that the company builds on its existing manufacturing capability, rather than having electric drives built separately. The project therefore helps protect Jaguar Land Rover facilities and the staff during the switch-over to electric. The Government is supporting the project through its Advanced Propulsion Centre because the technology involved is both innovative and has the potential to benefit a range of UK businesses. The project will help ensure that the UK becomes a major centre for the production of electric drive units, encouraging suppliers of electric car components to invest and develop their businesses in this country."