The announcement comes after Volvo announced a similar pledge two months ago and after both the UK and French governments announced bans on all non-electric vehicles by 2040.
The UK-based manufacturer has promised that all new models from 2020 will be fully electric or hybrid, which is being seen as a significant step beyond its unveiling last November of a single electric concept car.
JLR, a subsidiary of the Indian conglomerate Tata, currently doesn’t makes any electric cars but has plans to begin building production versions of its battery-powered SUV next year.
The I-Pace will have a range of 310 miles (500km), and JLR has indicated that it would like to build an electric car plant in the UK, similar to Nissan’s Sunderland facility. No concrete commitment has yet been made.
Beyond the I-Pace, other electric vehicles in JLR’s range will include an updated version of its classic E-Type and a driverless concept car known as the Future-Type, which has a steering wheel that communicates with the driver.
Despite its announcement, Prof David Bailey, an automotive expert at Aston University, said that the company had been slow to wake up to electric vehicles and was now playing catch-up with the likes of Tesla and BMW.
Commenting he said, “The premium end of things is moving more quickly [towards electrification] in part because electric car costs are higher at the moment because of battery costs, so they can absorb that. It’s also because they are heavily dependent on diesel and the market is moving away from diesel.”
