2014 Jaguar XK200

Jaguar plans a million-dollar “eco supercar” based on its show-stopping C-X75 Concept. The XK200 won’t use micro-turbine engines, but race-car engineering will make this range-extender hybrid one of the world’s fastest sports cars--and as green as a Toyota Prius.

What We Know About the 2014 Jaguar XK200

As some people fervently hoped it would, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed a limited-edition retail version of the C-X75 Concept coupe that
wowed crowds at the 2010 Paris and Los Angeles Auto Shows. Announced in early May 2011, the new “eco supercar” is slated to begin sale in late 2013. It will be Jaguar’s first elite-market sports car since the controversial mid-engine XJ220 of 1993-94.

The concept is being "productionized" as Project C-X75 in a first-time collaboration between Jaguar and Formula 1 racing power Williams F1, another iconic British enterprise. Though the showroom model will get a different name--we’re betting on XK200--it will mimic the concept in being a plug-in hybrid with a range-extender combustion engine, a powertrain configuration broadly similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt. XK200, however, will be a 2-seat, high-performance green machine to rival the BMW i8 and Porsche 918 Spyder, both of which are also expected as 2014 models. Jaguar says production will be capped at 250 units over two years, and forecasts a price of some $1.1 million at current exchange rates.

Company officials are already touting the 2014 Jaguar XK200 as having the same performance projected for the C-X75--more on that shortly--despite key differences in two areas. The first involves powertrain. The concept employed a lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery pack and two lightweight micro-turbine engines, mounted behind the cockpit, to power four electric motors, one at each wheel. XK200 will use just two motors, one at each axle, plus a (presumably) different Li-Ion battery array and--the big news--a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine based on new 2013-season Formula 1 racing rules. Britain’s CAR magazine reports the engine will employ both a supercharger and a turbocharger. Though final specifications won’t be released until September 2011, JLR Group Engineering Director Bob Joyce expects total net horsepower to at least match the 778 quoted for the concept, this according to AutoWeek.

That magazine also notes the engine will not be a racing unit, because “according to Joyce, [those] aren’t sufficiently refined for road-car use. But it will be a bespoke engine, because it will be [pressurized] to a very high level, ‘possibly higher than five times atmospheric,’ Joyce said. That’s comparable to the internal pressure in a commercial diesel engine and should bring high thermal efficiency...[The unit] might set a record for specific output of a production gasoline engine.” Powerplant development is said to be mainly Jaguar’s responsibility, but Williams will contribute hybrid-powertrain expertise developed from its F1 racing experience.

Like the concept, the 2014 Jaguar XK200 will feature de facto all-wheel drive, but will exchange a single-speed reduction gearbox for a conventional transmission that’s better suited to a combustion-engine hybrid. Exactly what that might be has probably yet to be decided, but we’d look for a purpose-designed and very heavy-duty automated manual, doubtless a dual-clutch design.