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Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled a new £250m engineering facility at its centre in Whitley, Coventry, bringing 350 jobs to the region.
The 323,000 sq ft Future Energy Lab will enable rapid testing of electric vehicles (EVs), including in extreme-weather conditions, as the marque preps for the launch of nine new luxury models by 2030.
200 engineers have already secured jobs at the facility and JLR said a further 150 roles will be created, supported by £22m of investment into the facility next year.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands said: “We have been steadfast in our ambition to place our region right at the forefront of both automotive excellence and the transition to electric vehicle production.”
“Today’s brilliant news from JLR vindicates our ambition. With the opening of this new Future Energy Lab in Coventry – a multi-million pound investment in engineering – JLR are doubling down on their commitment to electrification in the months and years ahead.”
The lab will produce Electric Drive Units (EDUs), which convert electric energy to get vehicle wheels spinning, for JLR’s next generation, fully electric Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar models.
It comes after heavy investment from Jaguar in its electrification push this year, as it looks to keep ground on competitors such as Aston Martin.
In April, the luxury carmaker pledged £15bn over five years to transition towards greener fleets and is making a number of changes to its British factories.
It has already created hundreds of new jobs this year at factories in Solihull, Whitley and Gaydon, Warwickshire.
Thomas Mueller, executive director of product engineering at JLR, said: “Our vehicles are, and continue to be, at the forefront of an all-electric automotive future.”
“This facility… is essential to providing the advanced testing capabilities that will be vital to the performance and reliability of the modern luxury vehicles we are proudly developing.”