Scoop: Is Jaguar Testing An XE “E” Diesel-Electric Hybrid?

A camouflage-free Jaguar XE featuring a boot badge with the letter “E”

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by John Halas

March 19, 2015 at 20:05

A camouflage-free Jaguar XE featuring a boot badge with the letter “E” and a light blue circle, grabbed the attention of ours spies today.

Our man with the long lens told us that said car was amongst a test group of of Land Rovers, and camouflaged XF and F-Pace prototypes in Spain.

While the lack of visible exhaust pipes and the “E” badge may have you pondering if it’s a pure-electric model, that’s not the case, as we ran a license plate check and it came out as being powered by a 2.0-liter diesel engine.

Moreover, if it were indeed an EV or even a Plug-in Hybrid tester, it would surely have had a warning sticker for emergency crews in the case of an accident.

That leaves us with two options: a) it’s just a regular Jaguar XE diesel or b) it’s a prototype diesel-electric hybrid version of the XE sedan. It’s worth noting here that we also ran a few license plate checks on existing Range Rover Sport Hybrid models, and they were all listed as powered by a diesel engine alone, so option b) is still on the table.

A hybrid version of the XE would be a welcome addition to the XE range and could use a similar version of the Range Rover Sport Hybrid’s 35kW electric motor-generator in place of the torque converter.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops