ALL-NEW RANGE ROVER TO CHASE BENTLEY AND ROLLS
Toting hi-tech kit and even more luxury, the next-gen flagship SUV will gun for Bentayga and Cullinan
The next-generation Range Rover, due next year, is intended to eclipse a new era of rivals in the fast-growing super-luxury SUV segment.
With competition from the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan as well as upcoming, more mainstream models such as the BMW X8 and Audi Q9, Land Rover’s task with the fifth-generation Range Rover is to create a vehicle that surpasses all of these rivals. It will attempt do so using not only its unique heritage but also technological advancements in powertrains, autonomous driving systems and infotainment.
It will be revealed and on sale as soon as late next year as Land Rover celebrates 50 years since the launch of the original Range Rover. Land Rover recently confirmed that the upcoming Range Rover, alongside the next Range Rover Sport, will use an allnew architecture.
The new Range Rover platform will be significantly lighter than the current model’s D7u architecture, and the lightest of all Jaguar Land Rover platforms.
Called Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA), the aluminium platform will be used on all future Jaguar Land Rover models ranging in size from the Jaguar XE to the Range Rover. By the middle of the next decade, next-generation versions of Jaguar Land Rover’s transverse-engined models are even expected to be switched to MLA too.
MLA’s weight saving is crucial to allow for the extra heft of battery packs for electric and hybrid models, plus the technology and drivetrains that MLA has been designed to accommodate.
It is understood the next Range Rover, codenamed L460, will closely match the size of the current car. The exterior design will be evolutionary, given the Range Rover’s iconic look and the company’s keenness to capitalise on this. The current generation is softer and less angular than the third-generation model, and this pattern is set to continue.
Luxury rivals such as Rolls-Royce and Lagonda, Aston Martin’s revived marque, are readying electric models for launch, perceiving a perfect synergy between peaceful electric powertrains and luxury motoring.
However, even though MLA can accommodate a fully electric drivetrain, as well as petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid variants, it is understood that the next Range Rover will not initially be offered with one.
Instead, Land Rover wants the first electric Range Rover to be a stand-alone model. This will be a tall estate with more car-like qualities than other models in the line-up, and more limited off-road prowess.
Electric variants of other Range Rovers will subsequently be offered as part of normal model line-ups, including a version of the full-size Range Rover set for launch before 2022 and aimed chiefly at Asian megacities.
While Land Rover readies an electric Range Rover, the new model will continue with plug-in hybrid technology recently introduced in an update to the existing Range Rover.
The MLA’s plug-in hybrid set-up is understood to include an electrified back axle alongside a four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine, with the electric-only range increased above the 50km of the current P400e.
There will also be changes to the pure-combustion-engined line-up. Currently, there are 3.0-litre V6 and 4.4-litre V8 diesels and supercharged 5.0-litre V8 and 3.0-litre V8 petrols – all sourced externally and all set to be axed.
Jaguar Land Rover confirmed in 2016 that its Ford-sourced V6 engines will be replaced by straight-six Ingenium petrol and diesel units. By the time the Range Rover arrives, these will be in play, mixed with 48V mild hybrid technology in some versions to improve performance and economy.
Even with all its new electrified technology, the next Range Rover will keep its peerless off-road ability — Land Rover continues to see this as a key differentiator between it and newer rival offerings.