New EMA platform to support next-gen Land Rover Discovery Sport & Evoque

KUALA LUMPUR: The next-gen Discovery Sport and Evoque will be the first models in the company’s lineup to benefit from the new Electrified Modular Architecture platform. So, no internal combustion engine on offer this time around, it’s all pure electric.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque will sit on the automaker’s brand new ‘native electric’ platform and will be available with full-electric and hybrid mills. All this and more is part of Land Rover’s electrification drive, aka, JLR’s new Reimagine business plan, wherein the automaker will launch as many as six battery-electric cars the next five years and use just an electrified engine from 2026, including mild- and strong-hybrid and all-electric systems. Further, JLR is aiming to achieve 60 percent of its global sales from EVs, 30 percent from mild/standard hybrids, and 10 percent via PHEVs. And by 2036, the British brand aims all its global sales to be driven from zero-emission vehicles.

In order to achieve this goal, all Land Rover models will adapt one of the two recently introduced platforms - Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) and Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA). While the former is mixed-powertrain, the latter is Battery Electric Vehicle native.

Time to know the two platforms in details -

MLA
The Modular Longitudinal Architecture platform is scheduled to arrive by 2022 or 2023 and it will support models like the next-gen Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. The automaker describes it as a ‘flexible’ architecture that can take on several powertrains like hybrid, mild-hybrid, PHEV, and fully-electric.

EMA
By 2024 we’ll have the Electric Modular Architecture and it will support the nextgen Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. So, one thing that’s for sure here is that in the future the two models mentioned above won’t be powered by pure combustion or mild-hybrid mills. Given the fact that the EMA platform is epically designed for EVs, it can still support hybrid and PHEV systems.

It will be engineered around the underfloor EV battery, will feature a simple body structure, and have a flat floor to maximize space. The platform will benefit from JLR-designed electric drive units (EDUs) that will be centered on 800V tech that will offer 6.5-7.25 km per kWh for EVs that will use the EMA platform.

Land Rover’s future plans

The automaker plans to introduce EV variants of the existing models but also it will launch electric vehicles within the next five years.

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