Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced a £500 million investment that will transform its historic Halewood facility (originally built in 1963 to produce the Ford Anglia) to support the parallel production of electric vehicles (EVs) alongside existing combustion and hybrid models.
With £250 million already invested, the transformation has so far involved over 1 million hours of construction work over the last 12 months, and seen the site extended by 32,364m
2. The plant, which will produce JLR’s medium-size electric luxury SUVs on the new ‘Electric Modular Architecture’ (EMA) platform, has been fitted with technology that includes new EV build lines, 750 autonomous robots, ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) calibration rigs, laser alignment technology for ‘perfect part fitment’, and the latest cloud-based digital plant management systems to oversee production and help create the ‘factory of the future’.
JLR says this investment is part of the company’s commitment to its ‘Reimagine strategy’, which will see the company electrify all its brands by 2030, with the aim of achieving carbon ‘net zero’ across its supply chain, products, and operations by 2039.
Barbara Bergmeier, JLR’s executive director of industrial operations, said: “Electrification is central to this strategy and Halewood has an exciting future producing ICE, PHEV and BEV models side by side before eventually becoming JLR’s first all-electric production facility. Halewood has been the heart and soul of JLR in the Northwest of England for well over two decades, producing vehicles such as the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport.”
Additional work to accommodate different EV sizes includes: a new body shop capable of producing 500 vehicle bodies per day; modifying 1.4km of the paint shop with the expansion of ovens and conveyors to accommodate increased demand for ‘contrasting roofs’; construction of new automated painted body storage tower capable of storing 600 painted vehicle bodies; increasing the length of the final production line from 4-6km to accommodate battery fitment; and extending vehicle build stations to facilitate the different proportions of the new EMA (electrified modular architecture) EVs.
There will also be 40 new autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to assist employees with the fitment of high-voltage batteries, high-voltage training for over 1,600 employees, and the transfer of £16 million worth of viable equipment from JLR’s Castle Bromwich site.