Range Rover launches first ever electric model - thousands of West Midlands jobs secured

Car giant Range Rover has launched its first fully electric model, it was revealed today in a move that will help secure thousands of jobs in the West Midlands.

The vehicle, Range Rover Electric, is being built at JLR’s manufacturing plant in Solihull with heavy involvement from its giant battery plant that sits alongside the M54 in Wolverhampton.

The company said the launch is being marked by a large-scale transformation of its work.

The Solihull plant and other sites across the West Midlands are being updated, including new battery and electric drive unit production lines and the reskilling of the workforce for electrification.

Around 9,000 employees in Solihull have been upskilled for electrification and a further 1,500 trained across the West Midlands.

Meanwhile JLR’s Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre at the i54 industrial park in Wolverhampton now produces battery packs and electric drive units alongside internal combustion engines, which will all be part of the new Range Rover models.

Martin Limpert, managing director of Range Rover, said: “Range Rover Electric is the result of a decade of considered engineering and technological development, setting a new benchmark for the original luxury SUV.

“We took our testing and development programmes even further than originally intended to ensure Range Rover Electric is genuinely the most accomplished Range Rover ever.”

Matt Becker, JLR’s vehicle engineering director said: “The defining characteristic of Range Rover Electric is its ability to perform across every surface, with effortless comfort and refinement.

“We’ve worked tirelessly to ensure it retain those qualities.”

The new Range Rover Electric made its public debut at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed.

It is seen as crucial to the future of the brand and with it thousands of workers in the West Midlands.

The electric SUV will take on the likes of the BMW iX and Mercedes G580.

Demand already looks healthy. More than 16,000 customers have joined the waiting list for the brand’s first EV, which promises the effortless performance, refinement and all-terrain ability that have defined Range Rover for more than five decades, only this time with batteries.

The managing director of EV Powered Richard Alvin recently told its website that he had seen the car at Goodwood and was impressed.

He said: “It looks amazing. In production form it has all the presence and polish you expect of a Range Rover, and the electric powertrain appears to be a natural fit rather than an afterthought. If the driving experience matches the way it looks, this could be a great seller for JLR.”

Alan Nicolson, Director of Range Rover UK, told EV Powered: “Goodwood Festival of Speed provided the perfect stage to showcase the next chapter of Range Rover. From the first public preview of a production-spec Range Rover Electric to our exclusive London Editions and SV models, this year’s line-up reflects how we are redefining modern luxury for an electrified era.”

The move to electric vehicles is a significant investment for JLR’s Indian owner Tata and essential for the economy of the West Midlands. The company is spending around £15 billion globally on electrification.

Jaguar Land Rover's owner, Tata, is building a £4 billion electric vehicle battery gigafactory in Bridgwater, Somerset, to supply upcoming electric models. Parts from that factory will be brought up the M5, M6 and M54 to the i54 plant for assembly.

Jaguar Land Rover has already expanded its huge site at the i54 park, which was already around 200,000 square metres.

It lodged a retrospective application earlier this year to build a new parts warehouse at the i54 manufacturing plant in order to provide a new parts set-down area. The 700 square metre structure was built without planning permission in October 2024, according to documents submitted to the planning authority.

However the firm said the development demonstrated JLR’s "significant investment in the economic prosperity of the site for the future" and was given the green light by planners.

The scheme is one of three linked developments at the site, which the planning proposal says is part of a site wide effort at the JLR Wolverhampton plant to move towards an all-electric manufacturing facility.