Jaguar Land Rover – now rebranded as JLR – has confirmed its Nitra plant in Slovakia will produce electric vehicles by the end of the decade.

JLR’s Nitra plant in Slovakia will produce electric vehicles by the end of the decade

The plant will be reconfigured for electrification as part of the company’s Reimagine Strategy that will see nine new electric vehicles launched by 2030.

Nitra started production of JLR vehicles in October 2018 and has produced over 365,000 Defender and Discovery vehicles to date.

It’s being geared up for EV production as part of the brand’s £15bn investment announced earlier this year, which is earmarked for its transformation as an electric-first, modern luxury carmaker by 2030 and to become carbon net zero by 2039.

JLR is rapidly transforming its industrial footprint to prepare for electrification, and the brand said the electrification of Nitra represents the last piece in that jigsaw.

The news follows the opening of JLR’s new £250m Future Energy Lab in Whitley, UK, to develop electric drive units in-house, as well as the transformation of Halewood and Solihull to produce next-generation electric models.

Halewood will become JLR’s first all-electric production facility, Solihull will produce electric Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Jaguar models, the Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton will build Electric Drive Units (EDUs) and Castle Bromwich will be repurposed to build body panels for EVs.

This summer also saw JLR owner Tata confirm it will build an electric battery gigafactory in Somerset, backed by a £4bn investment.

Details of which electric models will be built at Nitra are yet to be revealed but JLR is electrifying its Range Rover, Defender, Jaguar and Discovery brands under its plans for nine pure electric models by 2030.

Barbara Bergmeier, JLR executive director of industrial operations, said: “I am thrilled to announce that our fantastic state-of-the-art plant in Nitra will be producing electric vehicles this decade as part of our electrification strategy. This is a vote of confidence in the plant’s 5,000 skilled and dedicated people and demonstrates the key role Nitra plays in our current successful performance. I also want to thank our suppliers, who have followed us to Nitra and supported our increases in production.”