Electric Range Rover Will Release Later This Year, Extreme Test In Arctic Circle!

Range Rover Electric 2024. (Doc. Autocar)

JAKARTA - The latest electric Range Rover is almost close to its debut! This second electric car made by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is undergoing the final stages of testing in the Arctic Circle, an area with extreme temperatures up to -40 degrees Celsius. This means that this luxury SUV is likely to be released later this year.

Reporting from Autocar, April 23, JLR officials promised that this electric Range Rover will offer the ability to "village all terrain" like the ICE version. The ability to pull loads, bulldoze puddles, and off-road toughness is promised to surpass other luxury electric SUVs, including the ability to hit water to a depth of 850 mm.

As an overview of the performance, this electric Range Rover is likely to match the current performance of the V8 variant, which produces about 530 dk of power. Double motor configurations are expected to be adopted to bring better four-wheel drive capabilities as well as systems such as torque vectoring to increase their potential in off-road fields.

Testing is focused on the bottom of the vehicle, battery durability, and decreasing performance due to thermal derating. This electric Range Rover will later be produced on Solihull along with the mid-hybrid and PHEV variants. The battery will be supplied in the early stages by third parties before finally switching to a new gigafactory-made battery in Somerset which is being planned by Tata, the parent company of JLR.

Interestingly, Land Rover Program Director Nick Miller once revealed that the MLA architecture used can also accommodate hydrogen driving. This means that the hydrogen-powered Range Rover (FCEV) could become a reality, although there is no update on the company's hydrogen Project Zeus development program.

Land Rover was previously known to be testing the Hydrogen-fueled Defender prototype, and said that hydrogen would be a "complete" of pure electrical technology across its product lines to achieve its zero-emission target by 2036.

Without camouflage

This tested Range Rover EV appears without camouflage at all. JLR argued that this was done to "enforce the production quality of the initial prototype".

At first glance, its shape is almost identical to the Fueled Range Rover (ICE) which will launch in 2022. A comprehensive black coating without contrasting elements made fromiri is the main difference. JLR previously did mention the details as a marker of the electric-powered variant.

JLR claims the modern design of the Range Rover EV remains loyal to the identity of the Range Rover. This means, the Range Rover Electric - its official name - is likely to have little difference with the six-cylindrical gasoline, V8, and plug-in hybrid variants.

A similar approach was also made by Mercedes-Benz in the G-Class electricity version which will be revealed this week at the Beijing Motor Show. The car is predicted to retain a design almost similar to the fuel variant.

Although there are no technical details and official performance figures, this electric Range Rover will certainly use the 800V charging architecture. JLR opened a waiting list for the car in December last year to February, they claimed to have garnered more than 16,000 enthusiasts.