The Range Rover Finally Goes Fully Electric

There are some cars that can change their powertrain without changing their identity. The Range Rover is one of them. Since 1970, it has managed the rather difficult trick of being equally at home climbing a muddy hillside, arriving outside a five star hotel or sitting outside a country estate looking as though it owns several acres of land. It has become less a car and more a definition of luxury on four wheels. Now, after decades of diesel, petrol, mild hybrid and plug in hybrid power, the Range Rover has done something that would have seemed slightly absurd not too long ago. It has gone electric.

Still a Range Rover, Just Much Quieter

Meet the Range Rover Electric, the first fully electric version of the original luxury SUV. And importantly, Land Rover hasn’t attempted to make it look like some futuristic science experiment. Instead, the philosophy has been rather simple: make it a Range Rover first and an electric car second. That means the familiar, upright silhouette remains, with the clean and reductive design that has become synonymous with the name. The changes are deliberately subtle, with an aerodynamically optimised grille, wheels and underbody helping improve efficiency and motorway range without turning the Range Rover into an oversized electric appliance.

550PS And 850Nm Of Instant Punch

Underneath, however, things are considerably more dramatic. Two permanent magnet electric motors, each producing up to 260kW, deliver as much as 550PS and 850Nm of torque, making this the most torquey Range Rover yet. It will accelerate from 0 to 60mph in as little as 4.3 seconds, while overtaking from 50 to 75mph can take just 2.7 seconds. The electric powertrain works with a new traction management system that can react in as little as 50 milliseconds, reportedly up to 100 times faster than the equivalent system in a combustion engine vehicle.

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It Still Wants To Go Off Road

The Range Rover Electric hasn’t suddenly become allergic to mud. Intelligent Driveline Dynamics can distribute rear torque from 100 per cent down to zero to prevent traction loss, while Integrated Traction Management constantly manages wheel slip. There is also a new Single Pedal mode, which works with the traction systems to help the SUV climb slopes of up to 45 degrees. The lower centre of gravity provided by the battery, combined with twin chamber air suspension, should also improve stability and ride comfort. And then comes the slightly ridiculous bit: the Range Rover Electric can still wade through up to 900mm of water. Because apparently the correct response to electrification is not to stay away from puddles but to drive through one nearly a metre deep.

A Big Battery With Serious Charging

Power comes from a substantial 118.5kWh usable lithium ion battery, made up of 344 prismatic cells and housed in a double stacked configuration. Its 800 volt electrical architecture allows the Range Rover Electric to make use of high speed charging, with a 10 to 80 per cent charge taking around 22 minutes when connected to a 350kW DC rapid charger. Alternatively, ten minutes can add up to 137 miles or 220km of WLTP range. The official range figure stands at as much as 372 miles, while estimated real world range can reach 333 miles or 535km.

Tested Harder Than Any Range Rover

Getting to this stage has involved considerably more than plugging an electric motor into an existing Range Rover. The prototype fleet has covered the equivalent of 38 trips around the world during physical testing, alongside more than 250,000 hours of virtual testing. Land Rover expects the Range Rover Electric to become its most patented Range Rover yet, with around 300 patent applications filed. Among them is ThermAssist, a new thermal management system, along with the company’s own battery and motor designs developed at JLR’s Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in the UK.

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Luxury Remains The Main Event

Going electric has not resulted in Range Rover suddenly developing an interest in bare interiors and minimalist furniture. The Curated First Edition will be available in Belgravia Green, Santorini Black and Varesine Blue, with newly introduced Light Cloud Ultrafabrics PU and Kvadrat interior materials. The cabin remains focused on the things Range Rover owners expect: refinement, comfort and an almost suspicious ability to make long journeys feel shorter.

The Electric Range Rover Has Arrived

Built at Solihull, the home of Range Rover since 1970, the electric model joins combustion, mild hybrid and plug in hybrid versions on the same flexible architecture. It represents a significant change, but not a reinvention. The Range Rover Electric is still designed to deliver the effortless performance, luxury and all terrain capability that have defined the name for decades. The difference is that it can now do all of this with considerably less noise. The Range Rover has finally gone electric without abandoning what made people want one in the first place. And, frankly, if you’re going to reinvent an icon, that seems like a rather sensible way of doing it.