JLR: “We have a duty to rethink how we make our products”

JLR has launched a new initiative dubbed Project Cornerstone in a bid to rethink sustainability. Car Design News was invited to Gaydon for a preview of its “concept that is not a concept” which contains 49 new parts created primarily from reused materials sourced both within and outside the organisation.

Project Cornerstone is the result of a collaboration between the in-house sustainability lab, the design and engineering teams, and around 40 Tier 1 and 2 suppliers – not to mention various smaller local players. Rather than finding niche innovations that can be applied sparingly, the team sought big wins that could be implemented quickly and at scale. This led to a circular approach, reusing and recycling wherever possible, and carefully considering how cars are assembled in the process.

“We have a duty to rethink how we make our products,” explained Matthew Rowbottom, circularity activations manager at JLR, during a private screening at the Gaydon studio earlier this week. Beyond the obvious environmental benefits of a circular strategy, there are business interests too. “We need to manage risks, security of supply, and EU end-of-life directives that require a minimum quantity of recycled parts,” explains Rowbottom. “Through circularity we can mitigate some of those supply risks.”

Project Cornerstone is both a static car and a broader initiative. A Range Rover chassis (L460) was used as the donor and from there the team built up to a rolling showcase (there is no engine, but everything else looks complete). Other cars will likely be used as experiments in future.

Displayed in a private section of the studio, the car looks entirely normal save for a funny colour scheme: gloss black body panels indicate circular alternatives, while standard parts are flat grey. Reuben Chorley, sustainable operations director at JLR, told CDN that the ultimate aim is to make the entire car gloss black in that respect. But for the most part, the car looks like a standard Range Rover. The point being that circular alternatives need not look any different and can still meet the expectations for modern luxury.

The lights are a good example: there is one normal headlamp and one circular alternative (in the sustainable sense), which was created with partner Valeo. CDN was challenged to spot the difference and failed as they are virtually identical. We do not feel too bad as apparently members of the JLR lighting design team struggled too. Those headlamps contain 30% recycled material, have removable chips and can be easily repaired thanks to a new lens that is no longer permanently sealed.

Inside it is very much business as usual and innovation hides in plain sight. The seats are as plush and luxurious as they should be in a Range Rover but they too contain a proportion of recycled material. Pop off a small cover on the door card and you will find a speaker that uses recycled magnets. The instrument panel, centre console, headliner, carpets, A-, B- and C-pillar trims among other things have all been reproduced. 

Elsewhere, the glass used for the door windows is made from recycled windshields sourced from a Yorkshire-based company. “It can be difficult to get recycled glass that is perfectly clear,” says JLR sustainability specialist Jamie Webster, “but you would never guess these ones are recycled.” Even discrete electronics can be de-bonded and re-used, reducing the need to source rare metals from abroad. The scale of work is impressive.

Cars are really well made, which means they are really hard to take apart

A key challenge that has always faced the circular economy is that cars are made from a huge variety of different materials, often mixed together, and securely fastened – sometimes sealed permanently. That does not make it easy to separate and sort when it comes to recycling. “Cars are really well made, which means they are really hard to take apart,” explains Rowbottom. “They haven’t been designed to be processed for end of life, but we are working on that with our engineers and designers for the next generation of products.”

To that end, the steering wheel has been completely redesigned to consist of just five core components (beyond electronics and wiring etc.) which can be more easily separated and thus recycled at end of life. It is just an early prototype for now. The full suite of components that have been addressed is listed at the base of the article and is worth reading.

Project Cornerstone also comes with its own logo and is the work of Webster. That logo can be seen most prominently on the wheels (which account for the largest CO2E reduction on the car) and does not look at all out of place, quite the opposite. We think that emblem could feasibly become a strong marketing tool and perhaps even a separate trim line, a value-add. For now, the team is more focussed on exploring more circular components and processes, and building relationships with the supplier base. Nevertheless, the branding opportunities are recognised. “There is a huge pull to become more sustainable,” says Rowbottom, “and next-generation customers expect it.”

Although a Range Rover was used as the donor car, Project Cornerstone is not brand specific and the expectation is that other names – i.e. Jaguar, Defender, Discovery – will have similar treatment at some point. Existing models are being used as opposed to a one-off concept car to make the project more production relevant. “We didn’t want to overburden our suppliers, so we worked with a Range Rover shell which meant we weren’t starting completely from scratch,” Rowbottom notes. “Plus, we can compare it to the standard car.”

Project Cornerstone was borne from JLR’s Circularity Lab which is now roughly three years old and has grown from a scratch team into a formalised group that collaborates with various departments within the company. In terms of design, they worked with the exterior, interior and CMF departments, with materiality whitespace manager Louise Thorburn particularly closely involved. 

“Realistically, it all starts with the design,” affirms Chorley, “because how it looks and feels is incredibly important. The aim is that what we’re learning here can be applied to future designs.”

It is an exciting, ‘no BS’ move from a legacy manufacturer and the proposed sustainability benefits feel infinitely more tangible than applying a rare Amazonian moss to a one-off show car. “It is not a vanity project,” says Webster. “We aren’t asking whether we can make one Project Cornerstone, but thousands.”

Full list of Project Cornerstone parts and components:

Drivers seat, instrument panel, centre console, passenger seat, rear seats, front bumper, rear bumper, tailgate, tailgate lower interior trim, tailgate upper interior trim, door glass, a post trim, b post trim, c post trim, headliner, leafscreen, door claddings, beautification cover, front grille, floor pan, door skins, transmission, door impact beams, alloy wheels, rear lights, headlamps, door harness, general harness, door mirrors, speakers, active vanes, secondary bulkhead, heatshields, carpets, underbody shields, brake discs, front brake callipers, integrated power break, door casings, tyres, steering wheel, amplifiers, spoiler, tyre pressure monitoring system, wheel arch liners, differential, windscreen wipers, brake cooling ducts, tunnel topper.

Key Cornerstone partners: 

Adient, Alps Alpine, Arcelor Mittal, Artifex, Aumovio, Auria, Autoliv, Autoneum, Batz, Bosch, Brembo, Bridge of Weir, Covestro, Dow, Draexlmaier, Forvia, Gestamp, Hypromag, In2Tec, Lear, Leoni, LyondellBasell, Magna, Materi'act, Novelis, OPMobility, Pasubio, Pilkington, Pirelli, PSS, SMR Motherson, Superior, Tata Steel, Trinseo, Valeo, Versigent, WHS Plastics, ZF, ZKW.