There was a time when you needed a big V-8 to make some serious power, but things have changed a lot over the last 30 years. With the invention of fuel injection, lightweight materials, precision and variable tuning, and constant improvements to forced induction, we can now manage to get 400 ponies out of a little four-cylinder. If you time-traveled back to the 1970s and mentioned this to any gearhead, you would probably get a 1-and-¾-inch wrench planted against your melon, but it is now the reality we live in.

Taking that into consideration, it’s no surprise that Jaguar->ke39 may extend the SVR badge to smaller engines and even electric-powered cars.->ke1030 When the Jaguar F-Pace launched in Europe earlier this week, Richard Agnew, Jaguar’s Director of Public Relations, said, “We can’t possibly say that SVO has to be V-8, with the way the world is changing and also the way engine technology->ke1701 is changing as well. So it doesn’t have to be a V-8. What it needs to be, though, is have enough over the derivative below it so it does have the credentials to wear the SVR badge.”

Agnew admitted that consumer demand is one of the primary things that drives what engines are used for high-performance vehicles. If the demand for V-8 engines doesn’t exist, then automakers will be forced to quit producing them. Secondly, he also brought up the fact that emissions regulations and related taxes are getting harsher by the year, so the brand is looking at different powertrain options for the future. Jaguar has already admitted that it will eventually have an electric car, and even Agnew admits that electric vehicle performance is huge when it comes to power and torque output.

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Why it matters

When speaking about a future electric model with an SVR badge, Agnew said, “In the future, when we have electric cars, what will an SVR version of it be? It will be bloody quick, but it’s too early to say .” When you think about it, he is absolutely right. We are just in the early stages of vehicle electrification and look at the performance figures being put out by hybrid race cars and even road-going electric models like the Tesla Model S.

Despite the fact that automakers like Mercedes->ke187 refuse to drop the V-8, and Jaguar is still rocking the venerable 5.0-liter found in the F-Type SVR and Range Rover Sport SVR, the V-8 will eventually be a thing of the past. If a drop in demand doesn’t kill the V-8 engine, surely the governments in the world will with their stringent regulations. At least it is nice to know that the performance arms of brands like Jaguar are open to pursuing smaller engines and electrification of vehicles. If you’re going to force us to drive electric cars, or cars with small engines, at least let us keep enjoying the best the performance world has to offer.

Jaguar F-Type SVR

Read our full review on the Jaguar F-Type SVR here.