After almost two years of teasing and testing, the first battery-powered Range Rover has finally been revealed in production form, with Australian pricing starting from $317,718 plus on-road costs.
The Range Rover Electric combines a huge 118.5kWh usable battery with dual electric motors producing 405kW and 850Nm, permanent all-wheel drive and a claimed real-world driving range of up to 535km.
Three standard-wheelbase versions are available to order in Australia, with the HSE priced from $317,718, the Autobiography from $357,718 and the flagship SV from $417,418, all before on-road costs.
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The production specifications fill in many of the blanks left since Range Rover began previewing its first EV promising performance comparable with its flagship V8 but had yet to disclose power, battery capacity or driving range.
The numbers confirm the Electric is the torquiest Range Rover yet, with permanent-magnet electric motors mounted front and rear. Each is rated at 260kW, although maximum combined system output is limited to 405kW and 850Nm.
That translates to a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds, an 80-120km/h overtaking time of 2.7 seconds and a 200km/h top speed.
The 118.5kWh usable lithium nickel manganese cobalt battery uses an 800-volt electrical architecture and can accept DC charging at up to 350kW.
Range Rover claims a 10-80 per cent charge takes 22 minutes under ideal conditions, while plugging into a sufficiently powerful charger for 10 minutes can add as much as 220km of range. There’s also a relatively powerful 22kW onboard AC charger.
Official Australian specifications quote up to 600km of NEDC range and a 578km figure under an alternative test condition, while Range Rover claims up to 535km based on its own standardised real-world testing.
The Electric is based on the same MLA Flex architecture as the petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid Range Rover and has been designed to preserve much of the big luxury SUV’s traditional off-road capability.
It retains permanent AWD and combines double-wishbone front and five-link rear suspension with twin-chamber air springs.
A new Integrated Traction Management system can control motor speed within 50 milliseconds, which Range Rover claims allows it to respond to wheel slip up to 100 times faster than an equivalent combustion-powered system.
Intelligent Driveline Dynamics can also vary the amount of torque being delivered to the rear axle from 100 per cent to zero depending on available traction.
A new Single Pedal off-road mode is designed to provide precise low-speed control, including standing starts on gradients of up to 33 degrees and rolling climbs on slopes of up to 45 degrees.
There are also Coast, Light and Heavy regenerative braking settings, with the strongest capable of providing up to 0.5g of deceleration.
Maximum wading depth is 900mm – 50mm more than EVC anticipated when the Electric was undergoing final testing – while ground clearance in its off-road setting is 201mm.
Approach, breakover and departure angles are 33.2, 22.3 and 28.1 degrees respectively.
There is a compromise for owners who tow, however. Maximum braked towing capacity is 2500kg, substantially less than the 3500kg capability available with combustion-powered versions of the Range Rover. Unbraked towing capacity is 750kg.
There’s another substantial figure attached to the Electric: its weight. Range Rover’s technical data quotes a minimum EU unladen weight of 2810kg.
At 5052mm long, 2047mm wide with its mirrors folded and riding on a 2997mm wheelbase, its basic dimensions remain close to those of the combustion-powered standard-wheelbase Range Rover.
There are subtle aerodynamic changes, including a more enclosed grille, aero-optimised wheels and revised underbody treatment, contributing to a claimed 0.29 drag coefficient.
The production model follows an extensive development program that has included more than 1.5 million kilometres of testing in conditions ranging from -40 degrees Celsius in Sweden to the Dubai desert and JLR’s Eastnor Castle off-road facility in the UK.
The Range Rover Electric also introduces the company’s ThermAssist thermal-management system, which manages battery and cabin temperatures and is claimed to reduce heating energy consumption by as much as 40 per cent.
Australian buyers receive a one-year Chargefox subscription capped at 500kWh, while the electric propulsion system is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty.
And the flagship Range Rover is only the beginning of the brand’s battery-electric rollout.
The Range Rover Sport Electric is due to follow and is expected to share much of the flagship’s MLA Flex-based electric powertrain, while the lower and sleeker Range Rover GT introduces JLR’s separate Electric Modular Architecture.
The Range Rover Electric will be built alongside combustion-powered and plug-in hybrid Range Rovers at JLR’s Solihull factory in the UK.
Range Rover Electric Australian pricing:
Range Rover Electric HSE – $317,718 plus on-road costs
Range Rover Electric Autobiography – $357,718 plus on-road costs
Range Rover Electric SV – $417,418 plus on-road costs
