JLR INVESTS £500 MILLION INTO CREATING EV FACTORY OF THE FUTURE IN MERSEYSIDE

26 September 2024

  • JLR has radically transformed its 61‑year‑old factory in Halewood, Merseyside in preparation for electric vehicle production
  • Over £250 million invested in new production lines, machinery, people and digital technology; further £250 million to be injected over the coming years
  • The transformational works will enable the parallel production of internal combustion, hybrid and pure electric vehicles
  • Ongoing revamp focused on renewables; fuel switching and energy reduction will enable removal of 40,000 tonnes of CO2e from Halewood`s industrial footprint
  • Investment reaffirms JLR’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy, which will reposition the company as an electric first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030

Gaydon, UK – 26th September 2024: JLR has announced a £500 million investment to transform its historic Halewood facility to support the parallel production of electric vehicles, alongside existing combustion and hybrid models. 

Originally built in 1963 to produce the Ford Anglia, Halewood is being transformed for the electric era.

With £250 million already invested, the transformation so far has involved over one million hours of construction work over the last 12 months. The site has been extended by 32,364 sqm to produce JLR’s medium‑sized electric luxury SUVs on the new Electric Modular Architecture (EMA) platform.

The historic plant has been fitted with technology including new EV build lines, 750 autonomous robots, ADAS calibration rigs, laser alignment technology for perfect part fitment and the latest cloud based digital plant management systems to oversee production, creating the ‘factory of the future’.
 

Halewood Paint Inspection Tunnel

This investment is part of JLR’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy, which will see JLR electrify all its brands by 2030, with the aim of achieving carbon net zero across our supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. 

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.

Halewood will be our first all‑electric production facility, and it is a testament to the brilliant efforts by our teams and suppliers who have worked together to equip the plant with the technology needed to deliver our world class luxury electric vehicles.

Barbara Bergmeier, Executive Director, Industrial Operations

Additional transformational work to accommodate different sized electric vehicles includes: 

  • New body shop capable of producing 500 vehicle bodies per day
  • 1.4km of the paint shop has been modified with the expansion of ovens and conveyors to respond to increased demand for contrasting roofs
  • Construction of new automated painted body storage tower capable of storing 600 painted vehicle bodies
  • Final production line has been increased in length from 4km to 6km to accommodate battery fitment
  • Vehicle build stations extended to seven metres to facilitate the different proportions of the new EMA electric vehicles
  • 40 New Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) introduced to assist employees with the fitment of high‑voltage batteries
  • Delivered High Voltage Training to over 1,600 employees
  • £16 million worth of viable equipment from JLR’s Castle Bromwich site, ranging from ABB robots to automated guided vehicles has been integrated for reuse at the new facility
Halewood Robots

Reimagining Sustainability: With the company aiming to become carbon net zero by 2039, JLR has also focused on maximising the use of renewable energy, with plans to install 18,000 photovoltaic panels, producing 8,600 GWh of energy equating to 10% of the site’s energy consumption.

Through a mix of renewables, fuel switching and energy efficiency products, JLR is aiming to remove 40,000 tonnes of CO2e from Halewood’s industrial footprint as part of its carbon net zero targets. 

Re‑skilling People for Electrification: As part of JLR’s Future Skills Programme, the company is investing £20 million each year across all of its sites to enable employees to pivot their careers and gain vital skills in new systems, technologies and processes central to the future of automotive manufacturing and engineering. 

Within this, JLR is opening of Halewood’s new training and development centre, where colleagues will train on vehicles at varying stages of the production cycle, with a key focus on High Voltage Training (HVT) involving battery assembly processes. 1,600 employees have completed HVT with a further one hundred employees to be trained.

JLR Colleague Working at Halewood

Digital Ecosystem: New technology enables automated fitment of doors to vehicles, using advanced laser measurement to ensure each door’s fitment is tailored precisely to the body shell to guarantee exceptional quality of finish. 

As JLR looks to introduce advanced AI‑powered autonomous driving and connected services into its next generation vehicles, Halewood’s facility now features new Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) calibration rigs, capable of measuring ADAS responsiveness to ensure each vehicle leaves with the safest level of calibration for future autonomous driving.

With the new production lines having completed the first test builds of EMA body shells, JLR will continue to test and optimise the new machinery and technology ahead of EMA production commencing

Further information

Media Enquiries:

Tracey Tompsett

Public Relations Manager, JLR (UK)

E: traceytompsett@jaguarlandrover.com 

T: +44 (0) 7469 032 064

 

Montana Wright

Senior Press Officer, JLR (UK)

E: montanawright@jaguarlandrover.com 

T: + 44 (0) 7384 532524

Notes to Editors

 About JLR Halewood: 

‑ Originally built in 1962, the plant is a purpose‑built manufacturing site

‑ 1963 manufacture of the Ford Anglia began

‑ Halewood started producing the Jaguar X‑Type in 2001:

‑ First all‑wheel‑drive Jaguar 

‑ First diesel Jaguar

‑ Freelander 2 was the first JLR car with stop‑start technology

‑ Range Rover Evoque (2011) becomes fastest selling RR of all time, with 100k in the first year; workforce trebled to meet demand

‑ In 2014, Discovery Sport launched as the most versatile SUV for busy families.

‑ The Halewood plant will continue to build ICE and hybrid Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport alongside future BEV products as it transitions to become JLR’s first all‑electric production facility

‑ In June 2024, JLR launched the Manufacturing Technical Support Programme, providing colleagues with engineering and problem‑solving skills in a two‑year rotational placement to provide them with an EngTech qualification. Through 1‑2‑1 tutoring, 15 employees are already enrolled on this programme preparing to take on the maintenance of the Halewood’s next generation manufacturing technology

About JLR

JLR’s Reimagine strategy aims to deliver a sustainability‑rich vision of modern luxury by design.

We are transforming our business, targeting carbon net zero across our supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. We have set a roadmap to reduce emissions across our own operations and value chains by 2030 through approved, science‑based targets. Electrification is central to this strategy and before the end of the decade our Range Rover, Discovery, Defender collections will each have a pure electric model, while Jaguar will be entirely electric.

At heart, JLR is a British company, with two design and engineering sites, three vehicle manufacturing facilities, an engine manufacturing centre, and a battery assembly centre in the UK. We also have vehicle plants in China, Brazil, India, Austria, and Slovakia, as well as seven technology hubs across the globe.   

Jaguar Land Rover is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited, part of Tata Sons.

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