THREE MORE DEFENDER VARIANTS ON THE CARDS

Hydrogen fuel cell

JLR aims to achieve zero tailpipe emissions by 2036, but it is not pinning all its hopes on battery-electric vehicles. Its Project Zeus programme has been set up to develop hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, which the firm has called “complementary” to BEVS in its new-era product portfolio. A hydrogen-equipped Defender prototype will take to public roads later this year, with JLR highlighting the longer range, enhanced off-road ability and temperature-resistant performance of an FCEV powertrain as desirable attributes for an alternatively fuelled Defender.

Pick-up

Land Rover now offers panel-sided commercial vehicle versions of the Discovery and the Defender, but the brand has not had a pick-up model in its portfolio since 2016 – a market gap that it is set to plug with the introduction of a new Defender truck in the coming years. “There is customer demand” for such a model, vehicle programme boss Nick Collins told Autocar earlier this year, adding that “there are no structural limitations” in adapting the rear of the SUV because “you can make a pick-up from a monocoque”. Collins advised us to “watch this space”.

SVR

The new Defender V8 is jointly the most powerful Land Rover to enter series production so far, but as the company gears up to introduce a new, Bmw-derived eight-cylinder engine to its ranks with the next Range Rover, the door is open for an even more potent, Svr-badged version. The incoming 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V8 engine produces up to 626bhp in BMW’S M5 CS supersaloon, a state of tune that could provide Land Rover with a true rival to the Mercedes-amg G63 super-suv, most likely with less of a focus on off-road competence.