| First Drive | London, England | Liberty E-Range |

The Range Rover is good at an awful lot of things, but its Achilles' heel is poor economy and emissions. Oxfordshire-based electric powertrain firm Liberty Electric Cars reckons it has the answer. It has ripped out the Rangie's engine, gearbox, prop-shaft, differentials and axles to replace them with eight lithium ion batteries (two in the engine bay and six beneath the floor) and four electric motors - one for each wheel.

In the Metal

Ignore the livery on its flanks and there's absolutely nothing to differentiate the E-Range from a conventional Range Rover. There's still road presence aplenty and the batteries underneath have been housed in the drivetrain area, so there's no loss of interior space.

What you get for your Money

The E-Range is on sale now direct from Liberty at £160,000. Yes, that's a lot of money, but the firm is pitching this particular car at top-flight executives. As a business vehicle, it makes more sense than a normal Range Rover. You're looking at a saving of £16,000 a year in company car tax and 80 per cent lower running costs.

Expect an average of 200 miles from one charge. That's impressive from any electric car, let alone one as hefty as the Range Rover. Liberty reckons that it's the theoretical equivalent of around 250mpg. The battery has a 300,000-mile warranty and the rest of the car is covered by the standard Land Rover three-year, unlimited mileage package.

Liberty says that servicing costs are 75 percent lower than those of a conventional Range Rover due to the lack of moving parts. The car is also constantly connected to the internet, so the company can inform owners if something's not working as it should be. A full charge takes seven hours from a conventional mains socket, while a quick charge takes about an hour and results in around 80 percent capacity.

Driving it

If you've driven a conventional Range Rover then you've all but driven the E-Range. The high driving position is still there and it handles well for such a large car. Though we can't vouch for it, Liberty says that the addition of batteries beneath the car has improved the Rangie's centre of gravity, which should make it even more competent off-road.

Obviously there's no engine noise, so all that's audible is a light whirring. There's torque aplenty from the off, but the E-Range doesn't feel as punchy as most electric cars we've driven at very low speeds. That's because there's 738lb.ft of torque on tap, so Liberty has programmed the car to blunt initial acceleration slightly - in order to prevent excessive wheel spin. The exact set-up has yet to be finalised, as our test car wasn't quite production ready - it's still capable of 0-60mph in seven seconds, though. We found the steering a little heavier than usual, but that's another pre-production niggle and it's guaranteed to be sorted by the time the first cars make it to their owners.

Worth Noting

The E-Range can only be ordered from Liberty now, but it will appear in Land Rover showrooms in 2011. The steep price tag will remain, but the car's spec and ability will improve - expect a 300-mile range by the end of next year.

Next up for the electric treatment are the Discovery and the Defender, both of which will be much more attainable for private car buyers. Liberty says it will aim to sell them with no more than a ten per cent premium over the standard models.

Summary

It may be expensive, but Liberty's E-Range is a fantastic feat of engineering and puts smaller electric cars, with lesser ranges, to shame. It also silences the anti-4x4 crowd. When the electric Discovery and Defender arrive with similar ranges and modest price premiums, it may be difficult to find a case for internal combustion versions.