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JLR said it would be recruiting an extra 150 engineers for R&D work
The next generation of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles could feature world first technology to recover energy from braking on corners and stability controls.
The energy recovery system, which will use elements of the vector torque control technology featured in current vehicles, is being developed as part of a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) research project to develop electric versions of its successful Evoque model.
Mark McNally, hybrid and electrification research manager for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said: “Up until now all energy recovery has been about the linear slowing down of the car. This is pushing the boundaries further so that the overall braking activity is used. As you approach the bend and you actuate the brakes the car will decide if it is going to hydraulically drive the brakes or engage the electrical systems to recover energy. Nearly all of the energy at the wheel lost in heat will be recovered.”
The recovery of energy using vector torque control necessitates the development of “multiple fully decoupled braking systems” and predictive technology that will judge when to engage the extra energy recovery systems, McNally said. He added that the amount of energy recoverable from braking around corners and stability control was significant enough to look at, and energy recuperation is “a massive element of these prototypes”.
JLR is partnering with Cranfield University and automotive firm Delta Motorsport to develop systems that will enable energy to be recovered using vector torque control.
The £16.3 million Evoque-e project, which starts this month, will produce three prototypes in 2015 using £4 million of funding from JLR and £12.3 million from the TSB.
JLR has also announced further details about the National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) at Warwick University. Construction of the £94 million building is due to begin this month.
JLR said it would be recruiting an extra 150 engineers for R&D work at the NAIC over the next two years and that the number of JLR employees at Warwick University would grow from 200 to 500 when the NAIC site opens in 2016.
Tony Harper, head of research at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “We see ourselves doing collaborative research with other companies more in the future. We also don’t have a single facility where we have design and hybrids and advanced chassis all together.”