We Hear: Hybrid Powertrain Could Be Used in Future Jaguar Sports Cars

Jaguar chief product engineer, Erol Mustafa, has revealed that the hybrid powertrains could find their way into the brand’s sports cars. Speaking with Autocar, Mustafa said that while there aren’t any plans to implement hybrid powertrain as a performance enhancer or to improve emissions and fuel economy, the automaker isn’t opposed to using them in the future. Back in 2010, Jaguar revealed the C-X75 Concept, a supercar that featured a hybrid powertrain that combined diesel-powered and water-cooled turbines with four electric motors for a total output of 780 hp and 1,179 lb-ft of torque.  Mustafa also added that even though most of the vehicles in Jaguar’s lineup are built with achieving good emissions in mind, there’s currently no urgency in putting a powertrain in the F-Type that wouldn’t suit the car just to make it more environmentally friendly.

“We always look at ways of improving the car but it’s got to be the right application for a sports car,” Mustafa told Autocar. The revelation comes right after the reveal of the refreshed 2018 F-Type sports car, which is now available with a new Ingenium 2.0-liter turbo-four rated at 296 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque that’s coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, making it the new base engine. This new engine was also recently added to the XE, XF, and F-Pace but it’s less powerful in those applications at 249 hp and 269 lb-ft. Despite being the least powerful and cheapest F-Type available, Mustafa pointed out that the four-cylinder model has its own character that distinguishes it from the six- and eight-cylinder-powered variants.

Source: Autocar

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