The body of the Jaguar XE is 75 per cent lightweight aluminium, bringing with it a whole new level of aluminium-intensive lightweight construction expertise.
The Jaguar XE is designed around Jaguar's modular vehicular architecture and uses the aero-space inspired, stiff-bonded and riveted aluminium structures that are also used in the Jaguar XJ, XK and F-types. It incorporates highly advanced suspension systems and the weight reduction ensures fuel efficiency, with fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on the NEDC combined cycle of over 75mpg and less than 100g/km respectively.
It is the first car in the world to use a new grade of high strength aluminium called RC 5754, developed especially for the XE. The new alloy is made from a high level of recycled materials, which makes significant progress on Jaguar's goal to be using 75 per cent recycled materials by 2020.
“The Jaguar XE body uses over 75% aluminium content, which far exceeds any other car in its class. This gives us a body structure with unrivalled low weight: it’s light but also immensely strong with extremely high levels of torsional stiffness. We’ve made sure our aluminium-intensive body structure exceeds all global safety standards without compromising on vehicle design or refinement,” said Dr Mark White, Jaguar’s Chief Technical Specialist; Body Complete.
The Jaguar XE is designed and engineered in the UK and will be the first car produced in the company's new purpose-built facility in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. It will be launched in London on 8 September.