Jaguar has proven once again that they’re at the cutting edge of car technologies by announcing an ambitious plan to produce hydrogen powered SUVs by the year 2030. This, of course, is partly in response to the government’s plans to ban the sale of internal combustion-engined cars by 2035 (though this date could be brought forward). By that time, everyone in the car industry will need to have alternatives available or run the risk of going out of business. For a company like Jaguar, that’s unthinkable, hence the injection of cash, time, and effort now.
As you might expect from a project with such high ambitions, these things will take time. At the moment, the company is in the research stage. The project actually has a name for the research effort; it’s Project Zeus. While there are no guarantees that the project will be successful, you’d imagine that they wouldn’t be pinning so many of their hopes on it if it wasn’t a viable option. If things go well, then the technology could be ready by the middle of the 2020s, which means it could be used in the next generation of the Range Rover Evoque. Once the technology has been developed even further, it’ll be used for larger vehicles.
We hopefully won’t have to wait too long to see all the benefits that this type of technology will bring. According to Nick Rogers, who functions as the JRL product engineering chief, in the near future the company is going to reveal a driveable concept car that uses hydrogen fuel. Of course, the driving force behind this move is to improve the environment, and that’s something that’s underpinning the research and development. Moving forward, it’s expected that this type of technology will prove to be especially beneficial in countries that don’t have the same level of EV infrastructure as the UK. There are places in the United States, for example, where it wouldn’t be possible to have multiple EV charging spots, because of the sparsity of the population. A hydrogen fueled vehicle would help to combat this issue.
There’s another reason why hydrogen is being viewed as an alternative to electric vehicles: they will be better equipped to handle the power of larger vehicles. Rather than trying to mould the larger, more luxurious vehicles to electric, it’ll be more straightforward to go straight to hydrogen, providing the technology can be invented. With ongoing recruitment to help with the project and a need to have zero-emission cars in the near future, you wouldn’t bet against them.
If you’re in the market for a Jaguar vehicle in the Gloucestershire area, then check out the range that we have here at Heritage Jaguar. We don’t have hydrogen-powered vehicles just yet (but we will when they’re available), but we do have all the latest Jaguar vehicles that are on the market. Based in Cheltenham, we provide used and new cars, as well as Jaguar servicing and MOT Testing. So whatever Jaguar-related needs you have, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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