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JAGUAR HAS REVAMPED THE I, F AND E-PACE models for what may be the last time in the case of the petrol driven models.

Overshadowing that though is a report in the Sunday Times newspaper that a business set up to supply batteries for cars in the UK is in grave danger. Oliver Shar wrote in the January 15 edition: “Britishvolt’s inevitable journey towards disaster has been a very British story.

“I warned more than two years ago that it (Britishvolt) should be treated with ‘a high degree of scepticism’. It had no customers and no products. One of its founders had no automotive experience. The other had a conviction for tax fraud in Sweden in the 1990s. Britishvolt wanted millions of taxpayers’ pounds. What could possibly go wrong?

“Britishvolt had echoes of the DeLorean saga, when a smooth-talking American filled up with £77 million of public money to build his car near Belfast, then quickly went bust.

“Exploratory agreements with Aston Martin and Lotus didn’t evolve into more concrete deals; battery prototypes didn’t materialise. Despite about £50 million of investment from Ashtead and Glencore - the latter providing an extra cash injection to help it stave off collapse - Britishvolt is on the verge of a cut-price recapitalisation either by Indonesian investment group DeaLab or some of its original shareholders. Neither outcome would be ideal.

“Here’s a thought. Jaguar Land Rover, the dream partner, has been hunting for a gigafactory to supply its electric models. It has held talks with Envision about a site in Redcar. The finance director of its Indian parent, Tata Motors, also made comments about making batteries in Europe last week. It would obviously be bad news for the UK were JLR to shift towards Slovakia.

“Separately, Tata is seeking state aid to install electric arc furnaces at its Port Talbot steelworks. If Jeremy Hunt wants to revive an industrial strategy, why not trade off the two issues and use a steel support deal to induce Tata to take over Britishvolt? That would both keep JLR in the UK and spark life into Blyth.”

That sounds to us like the best potential idea for Jaguar’s electric future we have heard through the entire saga of its move away from internal combustion engines.

Perhaps CEO Adrian Mardell will soon give an update on Reimagine. Top of the questions is what the new Jaguars, due in 2026, actually look like? There will, though, be fewer in models than the current line-up. JLR plans to build the Jaguars itself at its Solihull plant to an in-house design. An inside source said: “We are looking at our own technology, our own products, and that allows us to have a point of difference. We’re heading in a good direction, slower than we want to be, slower than others, but we’re heading in a good direction.” Tata will be hoping that holds true.