Jaguar Land Rover Vector is an autonomous urban people mover, pilot programme starting in 2021

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is outlining its vision for autonomous urban mobility with the launch of Project Vector.

This is part of what JLR call Destination Zero, a bigger drive to reduce emissions, reduce accidents and reduce congestions, in this case with an electric autonomous vehicle. 

The vehicle itself measures about 4m in length, with the battery and drivetrain built into the floor, leaving the rest of the cabin as a configurable space, with JLR saying it can be used for passenger transport or for last mile deliveries. The flexible approach is designed to solve a number of problems. 

We've seen a lot of these sorts of concepts unveiled by vehicle manufacturers, but this isn't just hot air. Project Vector has a team working at the National Automotive Innovation Centre, University of Warwick, designed to incubate ideas around future mobility and the infrastructure needed to support it. 

"Future urban travel will be a composite of owned and shared vehicles, access to ride hailing and on-demand services as well as public transport. Our vision shows the vehicle as a flexible part of the urban mobility network that can be adapted for different purposes," said Dr Tim Leverton, project director.

Taking this onto the roads, Project Vector will be working with Coventry City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority to test the concept on the roads in 2021. 

Jaguar Land Rover chief executive officer, Prof Sir Ralf Speth, commented: "Through this project, we are collaborating with the brightest minds in academia, supply chain and digital services, to create connected, integrated mobility systems - the fundamental building blocks for Destination Zero."

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