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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has invested £500 million to transform its historic Halewood facility in Merseyside into an electric vehicle (EV) production hub. The investment will enable the parallel production of internal combustion, hybrid, and pure electric vehicles, positioning Halewood as JLR’s first all-electric production site.
Key Highlights:
- £500 million investment to transform Halewood facility for EV production
- Over £250 million already invested in new production lines and technology
- Parallel production of internal combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles
- Removal of 40,000 tonnes of CO2e from Halewood’s industrial footprint
- Commitment to Reimagine strategy for electrifying all brands by 2030
JLR has radically transformed its 61-year-old Halewood factory, originally built in 1963 to produce the Ford Anglia, for the electric era. The site has been extended by 32,364 square meters to accommodate production of JLR’s medium-sized electric luxury SUVs on the new Electric Modular Architecture (EMA) platform.
The transformation involved over one million hours of construction work over the past 12 months, with more than £250 million already invested. The facility now boasts new EV build lines, 750 autonomous robots, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) calibration rigs, laser alignment technology for precise part fitment, and the latest cloud-based digital plant management systems, creating the ‘factory of the future’.
The ongoing revamp is also focused on sustainability. Through the use of renewables, fuel switching, and energy efficiency projects, JLR aims to remove 40,000 tonnes of CO2e from Halewood’s industrial footprint as part of its carbon net zero targets. Plans include installing 18,000 photovoltaic panels, producing 8,600 GWh of energy, equating to 10% of the site’s energy consumption.
“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 upgrades include a new body shop capable of producing 500 vehicle bodies per day, modifications to the paint shop to meet increased demand for contrasting roofs, and the construction of a new automated painted body storage tower with a capacity of 600 painted vehicle bodies. The final production line has been extended from 4km to 6km to accommodate battery fitment, and vehicle build stations have been expanded to facilitate the different proportions of the new EMA electric vehicles.
To assist employees with the fitment of high-voltage batteries, 40 new Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) have been introduced. JLR has also invested in reskilling its workforce, with over 1,600 employees receiving High Voltage Training, and a further 100 employees to be trained.
As part of JLR’s Future Skills Program, the company is investing £20 million each year across all its sites to enable employees to gain vital skills in new systems, technologies, and processes central to the future of automotive manufacturing and engineering. This includes the opening of Halewood’s new training and development center, where colleagues will train on vehicles at various stages of the production cycle.
The 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 optimize the new machinery and technology ahead of EMA production commencing.
This significant investment reaffirms JLR’s commitment to its Reimagine strategy, which aims to reposition the company as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030, with the goal of achieving carbon net zero across its supply chain, products, and operations by 2039.
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