Land Rover has gone (almost) everything with the new Range Rover Electric prototype and has simply camouflaged the vehicle in a matt black paint job. Testers have begun their global torture tests, drifting the upcoming Range over Sweden’s frozen lakes, presumably in Arjeplog, one of the most popular locations for testing vehicle drifts and snowdrifts at -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Our suspicions from the first teasers seem to have been confirmed that the full-size flagship will hardly differ visually from the ICE-powered versions. The minimalist design is present right down to the grille and lower intake. The upper part of the prototype is not a flat panel, it is shaped to look like that of the standard car. Below, the highlighted double bars could represent the electric vehicle’s main signature, how it is distinguished from its conventional counterparts from a distance. The previous teaser also revealed wheel hub caps with “EV” written on them. Of course, all of this could be optimized for production.
The Automotive News A dual-motor powertrain is expected for the future product pipeline. All we know about performance is the promise of “V8 performance levels.” Since the battery-electric model is expected to weigh more than the 5,985-pound combustion engine SV trim, we’re looking for power from the electric version to match the feel of the 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque the SV gets its from BMW-sourced 4.0-liter V8 with two turbochargers. An 800-volt architecture ensures fast recharging times for what is sure to be a robust battery.
Whatever that powertrain is, the automaker builds it in-house – battery, electric drive units and software – and assembles it at the factory where the internal combustion engine Ranges are built. This represents a change from the JLR Group’s only other electric vehicle to date, the Jaguar I-Pace.
Land Rover says its software is designed so that traction control becomes the responsibility of each individual drive unit, rather than having to communicate with a central processor that uses ABS to restore traction. This would be the goal of any electric vehicle – most notably one touted by BMW for its upcoming high-performance electric cars – due to the much faster response times. According to Land Rover, torque response time drops from about 100 milliseconds to just one millisecond with the processor and ABS.
The debut is probably planned for the end of this year. Battery-powered versions of the Defender and Velar will follow launch, likely as part of planned refreshes across the Land Rover range.