Land Rover has revealed its first ‘green’ plug-in electric hybrid car — the Range Rover Sport P400e. It will hit the road next year with a claimed 2.33 litres per 100km.
It will reach 100km/h in 6.3 seconds, and have a top speed of 220kmh.
With a range on battery power-only of around 50km, it won't be a Tesla-matching pure electric option, but the British-built rechargeable Range Rover Sport is low on C02 emissions averaging just 64g/km.
That greener dose of 4x4 luxury won't come cheap, though. Prices for the plug-in model in the UK will start from the equivalent of $NZ140,000 and $NZ156,000.
A Land Rover spokesman said: “The latest Range Rover Sport is Jaguar Land Rover’s first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.”
Badged P400e, the new model combines a 300hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine with an 85kW electric motor to create 404hp of pulling power for the 4X4.
The spokesman said: “For the first time, Land Rover customers can experience zero-emissions, near silent off-road luxury with uncompromised all-terrain capability and allowing entry into areas with restrictions for air quality, including most congestion charging zones.”
The electric motor is powered by a high-voltage lithium-ion battery. When rapid charging, a full charge can be achieved in 2 hours 45 minutes at home using a dedicated or 32-amp wall box.
Or, using the 10-amp home charging cable supplied as standard. the battery can be fully charged in 7 hours 30 minutes.
Access to the 7kW on-board charger is hidden behind the Land Rover badge on the right of the grille.
Jaguar Land Rover has announced that all new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles will have the option of electrification.
2018 Range Rover Sport PHEV. Photo / Supplied
With the new plug-in Range Rover Sport, drivers can select from two driving modes to best suit their needs.
The default setting is called ‘parallel Hybrid mode’ and combines petrol and electric drive. A ‘save’ function prevents the battery charge dropping below the level which has been selected.
A clunkily entitled ‘Predictive Energy Optimisation (PEO)’ mode kicks in when drivers enter their destination on the sat-nav.
The system uses the sat-nav data to work out when best to switch between the electric motor and the petrol engine to maximise fuel economy over gradients along the route.
EV mode enables the vehicle to run solely on the electric motor using the energy stored in the battery for a zero emissions journey.
Daily Mail