What's all this about?
It’s probably about 2.7 tonnes. Hahahahahahaha!!!
I beg your pardon?
Oooh, can we have a look? Really?
Well, er, not quite. You see while Land Rover has opened up the order books — and we presume that means online order books, rather than a big dusty ledger in an office in Solihull — the company isn’t quite prepared yet to show off the new electric Range Rover. All we have are a handful of close-cropped pictures which show the charging port and a new design for the grille.
Ah, I assume we have technical details, though?
Ah. Er. Um. No, not really. We do know that following a year of ‘virtual development’ — which means checking things such as front-end robustness, multi-body systems analysis that considers the demand on the chassis, and virtual wading at up to 31mph through virtual water that’s virtually three feet deep — the first physical electric Range Rovers have now been built and are scuttling around the world on an endurance and prototype testing programme.
That means coping with -40C temperatures in northern Sweden, and up to +50C in Dubai, both of which are going to properly torture the battery pack and motors. Land Rover has said that the EV Rangie will be as capable on and off road as its petrol and diesel counterparts, and that it will have performance comparable to the 530hp V8 model.
But we don’t know how much range it will have?
Sadly not, although let’s face it, it’ll have to manage at least 300 miles on a charge if it’s to be competitive with rivals from Mercedes, Audi, and BMW. We do know that those batteries, and the electric motors, will be made in Jaguar Land Rover’s new Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, and that they will be mated up to electric Range Rovers — using the flexible Modular Longitudinal Architecture — at Land Rover’s traditional home factory in Solihull, which has seen a £70 million investment to allow for the building of electric models. Both factories represent big steps on Land Rover’s road to becoming fully carbon-neutral by 2039. We also know that the Range Rover will get an 800-volt charging architecture, which will allow it to top-up its batteries at very high speeds, probably as much as 350kW.
It’ll probably be very quiet inside, too?
Almost certainly. Electric motors are, of course, inherently quiet, but to make sure that you don’t just end up hearing loads of tyre roar and wind noise instead, Land Rover says that it’s designed an active noise-cancelling system for the electric Range Rover, so it will be like driving around in a pair of those posh Bose headphones.
Will there be much demand for an electric Range Rover?
Quite likely, yes. In fact, according to Geraldine Ingham, managing director for the Range Rover brand: “Since going on sale in 2021, the latest-generation Range Rover has set a new benchmark for desirability. Across the globe, we’re seeing the highest levels of client demand in our 53-year history. Because of this unprecedented success story, we’re now opening the official waiting list for the opportunity to be among the first to place a pre-order for the most anticipated Range Rover of recent times. Marking a new era for the Range Rover brand, the original luxury SUV is now available as an all-electric model.”
Will it be a proper Range Rover, though?
Thomas Muller certainly thinks so. He’s the director of product engineering for Jaguar Land Rover, and he said: “We are on target to create the quietest and most refined Range Rover ever created. The magic ingredients that underpin the success of Range Rover remain unchanged: timeless, reductionist design, a serene cabin and go-anywhere capability – but now offered with zero tailpipe emissions. And as repeated throughout history, the Range Rover will continue to set the standard. The first of its type. An electric luxury SUV that can deliver on the Range Rover promise. A true global luxury product, as yet unseen in the industry. Created in the heart of the United Kingdom, the Range Rover Electric will slot into the range alongside its mild hybrid and plug-in electric hybrid siblings, offering a breadth of options to meet our clients’ needs.”
So I can order one? How much will it set me back?
Not quite. And we don’t know. Land Rover says it has opened the waiting list for the electric Range Rover, allowing customers to put their name down for a vehicle before they even know how much it will cost. Seems like a funny move to us, but what do we know?
Neil Briscoe - 15 Dec 2023
