Range Rover’s added range
Electric range, that is. Octane tests pre-production plug-in hybrid versions of the Range Rover and Sport
They mighT be prototypes at the moment, but full PHEV Range Rovers and Range Rover Sports are imminent. The team behind the P400e powertrain, JLR’s first full plug-in hybrid, is at pains to point out that the vehicles we tested aren’t quite the finished articles, but on the other hand they are confident enough to let us have a go in them. And a proper go at that, not just on freeways, but on the challenging canyon roads of California and the (probably more model-appropriate) Pacific Coast Highway. To be honest, barring the prominent kill switch on the centre console, both these Euro-spec cars in pricey Autobiography trim look and feel pretty finished.
Weighing in at 2509kg against the Sport’s 2471kg, the P400e Range Rover is marginally the bigger and heavier car, but performance is the same for both, with an output of a fraction under 400bhp, 60mph coming up in 6.3 seconds and a 137mph top speed. What is interesting about both is the tech. Each is powered by the 296bhp 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol engine driving through a six- (Sport) or eight-speed (Range Rover) ’box, but that is not really the point.
The petrol engine is combined with plugin tech that comprises an 85kW AC motor tucked away on the transmission and itself fuelled by a 13.1kWh Samsung lithium-ion battery stashed under the boot floor. That leads to impressive CO2 emissions of 64g/ km, but remember that figure incorporates the recycled braking energy. Similarly, at a potential 101mpg, they can claim to be the most fuel-efficient Range Rovers ever.
You can achieve zero emissions in either but only for a theoretical 31 miles, more likely high 20s according to JLR, though the rapid charge time of 2hr 45min via a 32A box (10A charging will take three times as long) is pretty competitive. In EV mode – the alternatives being Parallel Hybrid, which uses both power sources but obviously favours the greener, and Save, which stores battery power – it can reach 85mph.
They feel bi-polar to drive. When fully electric, both are eerily quiet and hovercraft smooth, but when the petrol power kicks in,
that noisy four-pot rather imposes itself, the sense of intrusion exacerbated by the contrast with the serene all-electric progress.
Handling-wise, when you start with such bulk, the extra weight of the electric system (the battery alone is 150kg) doesn’t make much difference in normal driving. Even pressing on, they maintain the basic Range Rover principle of driving with a competence and verve that defies logic for vehicles of such size and weight. All while you wallow in abject luxury of the Autobiography that we tested, enhanced by the new Touch Pro Duo infotainment system.
Neither of these is perfect, but they are prototypes – the Sport rather further along the road than the Range Rover – and, given the trick JLR has tried to pull off here, it’s a highly impressive effort.