In The Electric Vehicle Age, Do People Still Want V-8s? ‘You Bet,’ Says Jaguar Land Rover

It’s a bit untimely to get nostalgic for V-8 engines, however prefer it or not, the solar is setting on V-8s, and gasoline engines typically.

Automakers are already shifting their improvement {dollars} into switching to electrical automobiles, inside a surprisingly brief timeframe — even venerable, wood-and-leather manufacturers like Jaguar and Land Rover.

Jaguar has already introduced its intention to go all-electric by 2025. Land Rover says it expects to launch its first all-electric automobile in 2024, with extra to come back.

With the agenda so fastened on electrical automobiles, the query turns into, “Are clients nonetheless serious about V-8s?” stated Simon Turner, Land Rover product supervisor for Jaguar Land Rover North America, in a current presentation at firm headquarters in Mahwah, N.J.

“You guess,” he stated. “They’re.”

V-8s stay a key a part of the enterprise for each manufacturers. Jaguar provides V-8s on the Jaguar F-Kind sports activities automobile and the Jaguar F-Tempo SVR crossover. Land Rover presently provides V-8s on the Land Rover Vary Rover, the Land Rover Vary Rover Sport, and the Land Rover Defender.

The Land Rover Defender featured V-8 engines from 1992 to 1997, when it was dropped from the U.S. lineup. That engine was a 3.9-liter V-8 that produced 182 horsepower and 233 foot-pounds of torque, the twisting power that launches a automobile from a standing begin.

A brand new-generation Land Rover Defender returned to the U.S. market in 2020, and in 2021 it obtained a significantly upgraded V-8. The brand new engine is a 5.0-liter, supercharged V-8 that produces 518 hp and 461 ft.-lbs. of torque.

The 2022 Land Rover Defender 90 goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds, solely half a second slower than the Jaguar F-Kind sports activities automobile. The longer, heavier Land Rover Defender 110 takes 5.1 seconds, which nonetheless isn’t dangerous.

The Jaguar F-Kind sports activities automobile was launched in 2013. Beginning with the 2022 mannequin yr, it will get an all-V-8 lineup, to “align with client expectations in North America,” in keeping with Rob Filipovic, Jaguar product supervisor for Jaguar Land Rover North America.

In most variations, its 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 produces 444 hp and 428 ft.-lbs. of torque; the high-performance “R” model will get 575 hp and 516 ft.-lbs. of torque. The “R” model has a 0-to-60 mph time of simply 3.5 seconds.

Certain, electrical automobiles have superb acceleration and a great deal of torque, however they simply don’t sound the identical. “Clients stay captivated with V-8s,” Jaguar Land Rover says.