Land Rover's Halewood factory, home of Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport, will be going electrified in 2024 as the home of the new Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) platform, which will underpin the company's next generation of smaller, electric-forward vehicles.
The Halewood plant, near Liverpool, has a long history with both Ford and Jaguar Land Rover stretching back to the 1960s. (Check out our history of the plant here.) Since 2006, it's been home to the Discovery Sport (and its predecessor LR2/Freelander 2) and Range Rover Evoque, which both use a transverse engine layout different from all of the other Land Rover vehicles.
As Land Rover transitions to electrified vehicles, they plan to move to two platforms for all their vehicles. The Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform, which debuted on the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, will be used for full-size vehicles, functionally replacing the D7 platform that underpinned the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, Discovery, and Defender since 2012. MLA has a lot of room for various electrified options, including fully battery-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids, but it also has space for options like throaty V8s and diesel. By 2026, however, the goal is that all Land Rovers will have, at a minimum, a mild hybrid powerplant (like the Ingenium six-cylinder motor that has been a popular option in various vehicles since 2020).
The EMA platform will replace the smaller vehicles in the lineup, including the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. These vehicles will be electrically-focused, though they will not necessarily all be plug-in EVs only. They will be able to use hybrid setups, based on smaller internal combustion motors. However, the focus will be on full hybrids, not mild hybrids.
The EMA-based vehicles should hit the market in 2024, so as we get to the end of 2022, that means that it's time to start working on preparing the work to change the factory over. There will likely be an extended shutdown in 2024 to make the transition. The redone factory may also bring on some other models, as there are plans to expand the body shop.
To be seen is what vehicles will come out of the new Halewood. Though it's probably somewhat safe to assume that the current Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque will wrap production in late 2023 or early 2024, and will probably get replaced one-for-one with electrified third-generation vehicles, there may be other things as well as Land Rover looks to produce their first-ever electric-only vehicle.
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