Tags: #electric-vehicles #PHEVs
A new Range Rover is always a bit of an event. Arguably Jaguar Land Rover’s most important car with over 50 years of history behind it, the Range Rover will find its way onto the driveways of celebrities, sportspeople, world leaders and businesspeople across the globe. It’s a car JLR can’t afford to get wrong.
The latest version has been reengineered from the ground up and is based on a new architecture. It also has new powertrains including two PHEV options. What’s more, a fully electric version is due in a few years.
Before we get into the design and tech on the new Range Rover, the most interesting thing from our perspective is the availability of two plug-in hybrid options. These have a WLTP range of 62 miles each, thanks to a 38.2kWh lithium-ion battery. Range Rover admits freely that in real world conditions, the likely range is more like 50 miles, but highlights that this will cover 75 per cent of the journeys its customers make. Charging at a maximum of 50kW takes well under an hour.
Both PHEV options – the P440e and P510e – come with Land Rover’s new Ingenium straight-six, 3.0-litre petrol engine and produce 434bhp and 457lb-ft, and 503bhp plus 516lb-ft respectively. The 140bhp electric motor is integrated into the transmission and will power the car up to 87mph. Add the petrol engine into the equation and the P510e will hit 60mph in 5.3 seconds.
Official emissions are less than 30g/km and if owners bother to charge regularly, they’ll be able to achieve some pretty heady MPG figures. Though it’s a big ‘if’.
The new Range Rover retains the distinctive style of the last generation car, but has been comprehensively updated. It’s going to be available in both a standard and long wheelbase – enabled thanks to the new MLA-Flex architecture, which is also designed with those PHEV powertrains firmly in mind.
Three design lines are the focus for the exterior, each of which can trace its origin back to the original car: the falling roofline, strong waistline and rising sill line. The characteristically short overhang and split tailgate is retained. A cleaner exterior compared to the last car, plus optimised aero that operate beneath the car, has helped Land Rover achieve a drag coefficient of 0.3.
All-round LED lights are one of the most obvious design changes, especially at the rear where they are slimmer and more distinctive in style. Up-front, adaptive lighting is capable of shadowing up to 16 objects in the car’s path, and can provide a beam range of up to 500m.
Power doors and tailgate mean that owners need not use their arms until they get into the car to hold the steering wheel. From the side, black pillars and privacy glass give the illusion of a ‘floating’ roof.
Inside, the new Range Rover is a case of – quite literally – more of the same. That is to say it has the same quality, luxury and refinement, but there’s more of it.
Up front is a new 13.1 inch curved, floating infotainment screen which controls all of the car’s primary functions and integrates with smartphones. It is powered by Land Rover’s Pivi Pro infotainment tech and the latest Electrical Vehicle Architecture (EVA 2.0) which can receive over-the-air updates to the software. All of this is integrated with Amazon Alexa, enabling voice commands and a level of AI to improve the user experience. Alexa works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, whilst smartphones can be charged wirelessly.
Rear passengers get rear seat entertainment via 11.4 inch HD touchscreens mounted on the rear of the front seats. Devices can be connected wirelessly or via an HDMI port, whilst Wi-Fi can be enabled within the car.
As you’d expect, the car is trimmed in luxurious materials such as plated metals, ceramics and soft leather, or sustainable non-leather Ultrafabrics. Regardless of the materials, there’s plenty of space inside. The SWB model is 75mm longer than the previous generation car at 5052mm, whilst the long wheelbase option is 200mm longer still, offering extra rear seat room and a third row which Land Rover reckons is genuinely suitable for six-footers.
If you’re planning on going off-road, intelligent all-wheel drive and driveline dynamics distribute the torque, while an active locking rear diff and the brand’s award-winning Terrain Response 2 system should make climbing a mountain – or a kerb outside school – a doddle.
By the end of the decade, all Land Rover models will be available with a pure EV powertrain and the brand is aiming for 60 per cent of its sales to be EV by that time. Six pure EVs will be launched in the next five years with the first set to be the all-electric Range Rover in 2024.
You can already configure and order a new Range Rover via the brand’s website or its dealer network, however you’ll have to wait for early 2022 for the PHEVs to come available.
Update 27.01.22: Land Rover has announced final pricing for the Range Rover Extended-Range PHEV and has also added the top-spec SV car to the range. Capable of up to 70 miles on the WLTP cycle, and around 54 miles in real-world driving conditions, we now know that the PHEV car starts from £103,485 on the road and is available to order now.
The SV version comes from Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations and is the flagship of the range. Highly customisable by customers, as well as dripping with luxury and technology out the factory, it is available with the P510e powertrain and in short wheelbase form. You’ll have to be in possession of deep pockets if you want one, however, with prices for a conventionally powered one starting at £146,200.
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