The Range Rover is looking to ditch its gas-guzzling 'Chelsea Tractor' reputation as the original luxury SUV becomes available with electric power for the very first time.
The Range Rover Electric, unveiled today, promises 'a new era of enhanced refinement and capability' – and it won't come cheap.
Prices start from £154,070, a near-£50,000 mark-up on the entry-level diesel version, and stretch to almost a quarter of a million pounds for the range-topping zero-emission model.
While it looks almost indistinguishable from the petrol, diesel and hybrid Range Rovers it will be sold alongside, it is underpinned by an 800-volt architecture, industry-leading battery tech and two powerful electric motors.
The result? Performance to match its V8 petrol counterpart, including the same 900mm wading depth and uncompromised off-road capability, but with even greater refinement and a 333-mile real-world driving range.
Bosses expect it to be popular, too. Range Rover managing director Martin Limpert says there is already a 'waiting list' of 80,000 customers globally ready to place an order.
Daily Mail and This is Money were given a behind-the-scenes preview of the new Range Rover more than a month ago, and we spent a brief period behind the wheel of a near-production prototype...
Not a gas-guzzling Chelsea Tractor anymore: The new Range Rover Electric costs from £154k and promises to go 333 miles between charges in the real world. We've - briefly - driven it...
With the original Range Rover debuting in 1970, the arrival of electric power represents the biggest shift in the nameplate's 56-year history
It looks the same... but that's exactly the point
Even to a trained eye, it will be difficult to tell the Range Rover Electric apart from the current fifth-generation 'L460' model powered by a petrol or diesel engine.
And that's entirely intentional.
As the industry edges ever closer to the 2030 ban on the sale of new combustion-engined cars, JLR is keen to retain consistency across one of its most successful products.
With around 140,000 full-size Range Rovers and smaller Range Rover Sports delivered globally every year, and the average buyer spending £136,000, the British luxury car maker is understandably reluctant to tamper with a winning formula.
Aside from a blanked-off grille and a new wheel design to improve aerodynamics and maximise driving range, you're unlikely to identify the electric version on looks alone.
The only other visual difference is its redesigned floor, and you'll probably only notice that if you're ever unfortunate enough to be run over by one.
JLR says some 80,000 prospective buyers have already registered their interest in the Range Rover Electric.
Interestingly, most are not expected to be existing Range Rover owners simply swapping a petrol or diesel model for a battery-powered equivalent.
According to Limpert, around 70 per cent of customers are forecast to be newcomers to the brand. And only one in five currently drive an EV.
To the trained eye, it will be difficult to tell the Range Rover Electric apart from the current fifth-generation 'L460' model powered by a petrol or diesel engine. And that's intentional...
Aside from a blanked-off grille and a new wheel design to improve aerodynamics and maximise driving range, you're unlikely to identify the electric version on looks alone
What's powering the EV?
The Range Rover Electric has arrived almost a year later than JLR originally intended.
That's despite sharing the same MLA (Modular Longitudinal Architecture) platform as the existing petrol, diesel and hybrid Range Rover, which was engineered from the outset to accommodate every drivetrain type, including fully electric power.
So why the delay?
Because the electric model had to look, drive and feel like a 'true Range Rover' without compromise, Limpert told us.
In pursuit of that goal, engineers changed tactics during its development.
Early prototypes used an induction motor at the front and a permanent-magnet motor at the rear. The advantage of this arrangement was the ability to switch off the front motor at lower speeds to improve efficiency and extend driving range.
However, engineers encountered overheating issues with the induction motor during the kind of extreme driving scenarios expected of the brand's flagship SUV.
As a result, JLR switched to 260kW permanent-magnet motors on both axles around two-thirds of the way into the prototype programme (which reportedly covered enough miles to travel around the world 38 times and involved 250,000 hours of virtual testing).
The Range Rover Electric has the same 900mm wading depth as the petrol and diesel versions. Yes, an EV you can take into the water...
The Range Rover Electric's towing capacity is 2,500kg - that's 1,000kg down on the petrol and diesel versions and 500kg less than the plug-in hybrid Rangie
While there's potential for the pair of e-motors to produce over 640bhp, the final production version puts out a combined 542bhp, which JLR says is the 'sweet spot' rather than overwhelming customers with power.
It also boasts 850Nm of torque, giving it more pulling power than the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8-powered P530 petrol.
Thanks to a bespoke traction management system, the Electric's electronic control system can react to wheel slip in just 50 milliseconds, which JLR says is 100 times faster than in its combustion-powered equivalents.
The company insists that means there is 'no compromise to legendary Range Rover all-terrain drive capability'.
Maximum towing capability is 2,500kg, so around 1,000kg down on fossil-fuelled Range Rovers.
The Range Rover Electric uses an industry-leading double-stacked 118.5kWh battery pack. With two powerful electric motors and a weight of almost 3 tonnes, it should still cover 333 miles between charges
The battery alone weight 800kg. It has patented heat management technology to improve charging speeds and extend the driving range
Power is supplied by a huge double-stacked 118.5kWh battery with two banks of nickel manganese cobalt cells sandwiched together and mounted beneath the floor.
In the official Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure test cycle (the measurement that manufacturers quote for their EV ranges and combustion engine miles per gallon), it delivers an 'official' range of up to 372 miles.
However, under real-world driving conditions, JLR says owners should expect a more realistic figure of around 333 miles between charges.
Recharging the battery is also relatively quick. Using a DC rapid charger, replenishing it from 10 to 80 per cent takes just 22 minutes.
And plugging in for only ten minutes can add up to 137 miles of additional driving range, according to the company.
The battery's performance is boosted by JLR's ThermAssist heat management system, one of more than 300 patented features incorporated into the new Range Rover Electric.
The battery pack also gets a segment-leading eight-year/100,000-mile warranty and engineers have even developed a digital battery twin for every car that monitors 900 data points to constantly scan for any reliability issues.
Recharging the vast battery is also relatively quick. Using a DC rapid charger, replenishing it from 10-80% takes just 22 minutes
Plugging into a rapid public charging device for only ten minutes can add up to 137 miles of additional driving range
What's it like inside?
Much like the exterior, the cabin of the Range Rover Electric is almost indistinguishable from that of its petrol and diesel-powered siblings.
That includes the retention of the transmission tunnel running through the centre of the cabin floor.
Bosses say customers wanted the feature to remain for the sake of consistency with existing models, while JLR has also put the space to use by housing the battery electric module that manages charging.
The only major visible difference is the gear selector, which now features an 'S' mode that activates stronger regenerative braking and enables one-pedal driving.
The only notable difference inside is the gear selector's 'S' setting, which engages the one-pedal driving mode with masses of regenerative braking power
How does it drive?
Yet it took only a few minutes to reveal some of the key advantages of adding electric power to the flagship luxury SUV.
While JLR has yet to confirm an official 0-62mph time, expect it to be in the region of 4.5 seconds – almost on par with the V8 Range Rover SV.
However, it doesn't deliver the neck-snapping surge in acceleration that's often associated with high-performance EVs.
That's because engineers have deliberately softened the power delivery to mimic that of its large-capacity V8 petrol engine, providing the effortless, linear build-up of speed buyers in this segment want.
It's also noticeably quieter than any Range Rover I've driven before.
JLR says it's seven decibels quieter than the V8. What does that mean in the real world? Think the difference between watching television in your living room and reading a book in a library.
And that's before active noise-cancelling technology is woven into the digital EQ.
Motoring editor Rob Hull had a brief spell behind the wheel of the new Range Rover Electric. Despite a short drive, it was enough to highlight some of the car's major benefits
Perhaps the most impressive achievement, though, is the way it disguises its bulk.
The kerb weight is said to be around 2,885kg - 75kg more than the heaviest current Range Rover, the P550e hybrid.
But even with the giant battery pack (weighing 800kg alone) beneath the floor pushing the needle close to three tonnes, it didn't feel cumbersome on the road.
This could be down to the battery pack buried within the chassis, which pushed the Range Rover Electric's centre of gravity 88mm lower than its combustion-powered counterparts and boosts rigidity by 56 per cent.
Combined with a new twin-rate air suspension set-up, revised adaptive dampers and the standard Range's 7.3deg of rear-wheel steering, the result is a luxury SUV that feels surprisingly agile, with remarkably little pitch and roll under hard acceleration, braking or cornering.
And despite its extra mass, it can still clear a 33-degree slope angle if owners were to ever take one off-road.
Limpert says it is 'genuinely the most accomplished Range Rover ever'. And after a brief spell at the controls, I'm inclined to believe him for now (we'll get a full drive in a production version later this year).
But range could be a sticking point for some drivers.
With Mercedes, Volvo and BMW already boasting 500-mile EVs, and various brands claiming over 400 miles between charges from their battery cars, an official 372 miles is modest in comparison.
JLR stands firmly behind the figures it returns, though. It claims to have reviewed more than 360 million trips covered by its customers and says 97 per cent of journeys are within the Range Rover Electric's single-charge limits.
Giving owners even greater peace of mind, the car features an AI-powered intelligent range prediction tool that tells them how much further they can go without charging with pinpoint accuracy.
The AI system also recalibrates if the vehicle is towing a caravan or trailer.
There's around a £26,500 premium to go electric. The EV starts at just over £154,000 for the EV550 Autobiography SWB - the same trim with a diesel engine costs £127,500
How much will it cost?
First customer deliveries are expected in early 2027.
Like conventionally powered Range Rovers that will remain on sale, the electric version will be offered in both standard and long-wheelbase forms, with familiar trim levels including Autobiography, SV, SV Black and the opulent SV Ultra. The latter is so exclusive that JLR still won't disclose its asking price.
What we do know is that prices start from £154,070. While that's almost £50,000 more than the cheapest diesel Range Rover, it's around £26,500 more than an equivalent diesel Autobiography.
Those wanting a long-wheelbase version will need significantly deeper pockets. The least expensive LWB model is the EV550 SV, which carries a hefty £215,670 price tag.
First customer deliveries are now expected during the early months of 2027. Range Rover claims to have already received over 80,000 global expressions of interest in the EV
The Range Rover Electric will be assembled at JLR's Solihull factory and, from late 2027, should use battery packs produced at parent company Tata's new gigafactory being built in Bridgwater, Somerset.
Its electric motors will be manufactured at JLR's facility in Wolverhampton, where the entire drivetrain is bolted together.
'Range Rover Electric is the result of a decade of considered engineering and technological development, setting a new benchmark for The Original Luxury SUV,' Limpert said.
'Electric propulsion is perfectly suited to the exquisite refinement of Range Rover, elevating the sense of calm and secluded sanctuary for occupants.'
