JLR and Tata team to deliver smarter, data-driven, connected cars

Aiming to keep pace in a global automotive industry that is being reshaped by electrification and software-defined vehicles, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has embarked on a major enhancement of its connected vehicle ecosystem, looking to transform the driving experience for customers worldwide through the implemention of the Tata Communications Move platform.

JLR has an overarching strategy to become carbon net zero across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039. Electrification is said to be central to this strategy and before the end of the decade, its Range Rover, Discovery and Defender collections will each have a pure electric model, while Jaguar will be entirely electric.

The collaboration with Tata Communications – an extension of an existing partnership to future-proof the carmaker’s digital transformation – is designed to empower JLR’s next-generation software-defined vehicles with continuous connectivity and access to intelligent services, even in the remotest locations, across 120 countries. The advanced vehicles, expected to hit the roads in 2026, will deliver a smarter and more intelligent driving experience.

Every day, JLR’s fleet of connected vehicles generates 2.5TB (terabytes) of data, with half a million electronic control units (ECUs) updated per month on average over the past 12 months. The use of the Move platform is designed to increase the data exchange and enable JLR engineers to harness deeper insights, monitor vehicle performance in real time, and enable more prompt updates over the air to improve vehicle maintenance and servicing, reducing costs for the car owners and JLR.

Through use of the comms platform, upcoming medium-sized JLR SUVs built on the new Electric Modular Architecture (EMA) will be able to transition between mobile networks and operators, enabling constant access to personalised connected services, such as media streaming. The platform will also look to enable greater and more secure data exchange between JLR and its customers’ vehicles, delivering more efficient software-over-the-air (SOTA) updates and supporting the roll-out of evolving advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

In addition, Tata Communications said JLR will be able to offer resilient wireless communication technologies to help track vehicles in demanding environments, along with increased and more frequent software updates delivered over-the-air to improve vehicle diagnostics and updates.

Commenting on the deployment and what it could achieve, Mark Brogden, director of digital product platform off-board at JLR, said: “JLR was the first luxury vehicle manufacturer to introduce dual modem, dual eSIM design for enhanced connectivity with the launch of Defender in 2020. The partnership with Tata Communications is the next step in our software-defined vehicle journey, offering highly secure and cost-effective data connectivity across 120 countries.

“Starting in 2026 with our next generation of medium-size luxury SUVs, Tata Communications Move aims to deliver continuous connected experiences for our clients, offering features and new software updates over-the-air to meet the expectations of our luxury client base.”

Marco Bijvelds, vice-president and global head of Tata Communications Move, said: “The automotive industry is continually innovating to meet ever-changing customer demands. Last year, our digital fabric enabled seamless connectivity across all JLR’s production sites globally.

“As part of our extended partnership, we’re now powering JLR’s software-defined vehicle journey worldwide and enabling it to deliver advanced driving features in its cars. The insights derived from the data exchanged through our platform will enable JLR to offer personalised customer experiences, opening doors for new revenue streams.”