The first fully electric Range Rover has officially gone on sale in the UK, with prices starting from £154,070 and a claimed driving range of up to 372 miles.
Range Rover opened the order books for its long-awaited electric flagship on Wednesday, 2 September, confirming the final production specification of one of the most significant new electric vehicles yet produced by JLR.
The Range Rover Electric uses a large 118.5kWh usable battery combined with an 800-volt electrical architecture.
Two permanent-magnet electric motors, each rated at 260kW, provide four-wheel drive and a combined output of up to 550PS and 850Nm of torque.
That gives the large luxury SUV performance comparable with a powerful V8 model, with Range Rover quoting a 0-60mph time of just 4.3 seconds.
Official WLTP range reaches up to 372 miles, while JLR estimates drivers could achieve up to around 333 miles in real-world conditions.
Rapid charging is another major part of the specification.
The 800-volt battery can support DC charging powerful enough to take it from 10% to 80% in approximately 22 minutes under suitable conditions.
Range Rover says a 10-minute rapid-charging stop can add as much as 137 miles of WLTP range.
A new ThermAssist heat-management system has also been developed to improve efficiency in extreme temperatures.
JLR says the system can reduce the energy required for heating by as much as 40% and potentially add up to 25 miles of range in certain conditions.
The Range Rover Electric has undergone more than 1.5 million kilometres of physical testing alongside more than 250,000 hours of virtual development.
Testing locations ranged from temperatures as low as minus 40C in Arjeplog, Sweden, to the extreme heat of the Dubai desert and JLR’s off-road development facility at Eastnor Castle in the UK.
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Despite the switch to electric power, Range Rover has deliberately retained the off-road ability associated with its flagship SUV.
The electric model can wade through water up to 900mm deep and uses a new traction-management system capable of responding to changes in grip in as little as 50 milliseconds.
Range Rover says that response is around 100 times faster than the equivalent process in a combustion-powered vehicle.
The vehicle also introduces a single-pedal driving mode designed to work both on conventional roads and when travelling off-road.
Range Rover says more than 300 patent applications have been filed for technologies associated with the new electric model, the highest number for a single vehicle in the brand’s history.
Battery monitoring is handled partly through a digital twin system capable of analysing more than 900 diagnostic data points.
The electric propulsion system is covered by an eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty.
The vehicle will be manufactured at JLR’s Solihull factory in the West Midlands, where Range Rovers have been produced since 1970.
Around 9,000 employees at Solihull have undergone electrification training, with a further 1,500 workers trained elsewhere in the West Midlands.
Battery packs and electric drive units will be supplied by JLR’s Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton.
The Range Rover Electric is being produced alongside petrol, diesel mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions rather than on an entirely separate production line.
Customers will be offered a range of specifications including SE, HSE and Autobiography, alongside higher-end SV variants and a specially configured First Edition.
At £154,070 before options, the new model sits firmly at the premium end of the electric SUV market, but its combination of a 372-mile headline range, exceptionally rapid charging and traditional Range Rover off-road capability makes it one of the most technically ambitious British-built EVs yet.
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Sources
Range Rover Media Newsroom – Range Rover Electric: A New Era for the Original Luxury SUV
