Tucana

Stiffer, lighter vehicle structures are required to enable mainstream electrification of common vehicle platforms, boosting adoption of electrified vehicles and improving their environmental performance. However, this requires a step-change in cost effective structural performance at a design, material and manufacturing-level which is currently unmet across the industry.

In Project Tucana, Jaguar Land Rover leads a consortium of world-leading academic and industry partners spanning the entire supply chain to introduce large composite assemblies and realise world leading lightweight body structures.

The consortium will leverage globally cutting edge industrialised materials, design and manufacturing concepts to integrate much higher quantities of affordable lightweight carbon-fibre composites into premium volume automotive applications, while also increasing the knowledge of these global businesses and the UK research base.

As an enabler for a zero-emission electrified vehicle platform, Project Tucana has potential to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions and improve range and air quality. The project will deliver inward investment opportunities and strengthen UK capability by integrating existing automotive lightweight technologies and developing knowledge to deliver a new UK supply chain at a globally significant scale for cost competitive carbon-fibre-composites.