Range Rover's first all-electric utility vehicle is currently deep in testing, undergoing the vehicular torture that any good Landy must survive before it can throw on a coat of glossy paint and look pretty in the showroom. Land Rover officially opened up the preorder waiting list today, confirming that the new fully electric model will offer performance comparable to a flagship V8 variant, along with the full "Rover" package of off-road capability, including the wherewithal to wade through nearly 3 feet (914 cm) of water.
Land Rover expects the Range Rover Electric to collect more patents than any other Range Rover in history, and all that innovation will go into ensuring the new model offers the seamless luxury SUV experience its customers have come to demand. An 800-V electrical architecture will provide for the fastest-possible charging, and Land Rover promises energy partnerships that will presumably make it easier to locate a charging station. That's an important factor for a brand that runs nearly synonymous with "auto touring."
Land Rover also says its engineering team is on track to making the Range Rover Electric the badge's quietest vehicle ever, building upon the near-silent nature of the electric powertrain with active road noise cancellation and meticulous attention to acoustics.
The Range Rover Electric promises to be more than pure luxury, though, pairing its on-road refinement with full off-road capability. It will be ready to hard-left off the pavement at any given moment and handle everything a true Range Rover can, including wading comfortably through waters up to 33.4 in (848 cm) deep. Land Rover also promises "hallmark towing" capability ... though the battery range implications of towing make it a sticky subject with all-electric vehicles.
"The magic ingredients that underpin the success of Range Rover remain unchanged: timeless, reductionist design, a serene cabin and capability – but now offered with zero tailpipe emissions," sums up Thomas Müller, Jaguar Land Rover executive director of product engineering.
Land Rover released the first teaser photos of its all-electric design today, and while they don't show much, they do reveal an SUV that shares the thin vertical taillights, flat lower tailgate and central badging with the rest of the Range Rover lineup. The exterior changes we can identify so far appear quite modest, limited to unique trim and badging like the "EV" wheel caps.
Range Rover says that the first Range Rover EV prototypes have started extreme weather testing from Sweden to Dubai in temperatures ranging between -40 and 122 °F (-40 to +50 °C). The testing regimen has been specially tailored to Range Rover's first all-electric vehicle, taking into account the robustness of the electric drive, battery and underfloor chassis integration.
The Range Rover will be built atop JLR's flexible Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) in Solihull alongside plug-in hybrid Range Rover models. The batteries and EDUs, meanwhile, will be built and assembled at the company's Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Center in Wolverhampton, UK.
Those looking to get in on preordering their preorder can sign up on the Range Rover Electric waiting list on the brand's website.
Source: Land Rover
