An all-new Range Rover has been unveiled for the first time in nearly a decade. The super-de-luxe British SUV is packed with modern technology under the skin and will also appear fully electric in 2024. In addition, for the first time there will be a variant with seven seats and special SV versions, which were developed under the direction of Dutchman Michael van der Sande.
It’s all new, but on the outside the latest Range Rover looks irreverently like a taut version of the previous model. The look and overall proportions of Land Rover’s most luxurious model are similar, but a closer look reveals that the design has been made more modern and streamlined in many subtle ways. For example, the ‘recessed’ handles speak for themselves: they help – just like the denser nose – to reduce air resistance by twelve percent compared to the current model. That should make the Range Rover a little more economical, despite its impressive size of (at least) 5.05 meters
In its own words, Range Rover has also put a lot of work into invisibly removing elements that disrupt the straight lines; for example, there are no longer any rubbers under the side windows and you can no longer discover a roof pillar behind the rear side windows from the side. It is, of course, there, but a continuous glass section hides it from view. This was done very ingeniously by the designers. The fact that there is a plastic, U-shaped element on the front doors on both sides that quite literally puts a line through the minimalist design, on the other hand, will not be to everyone’s taste.
At the rear, the new Range Rover has undergone a major makeover. The model still has a tailgate that opens in two parts. When closed, the new, partly horizontally arranged rear lights stand out, which are remarkably narrow and are now connected across the entire width. Again, a lot of sleek design: you only see the location of the lighting as soon as it is switched on. As long as the LED lamps are not lit, the entire light unit appears to have the same color.
As soon as you open the tailgate, you can use the lower part as a seat, the so-called ‘Tailgate Event Suite’. Then you can sit on specially designed cushions under special light points and listen to music from extra placed speakers.
Contradiction
Speaking of speakers: the interior of the new Range Rover would be extra quiet thanks to the use of ‘counter-noise’. As with more luxurious headphones with ‘active noise cancellation‘ Microphones in the car record wheel vibrations, tire noise and engine noises that enter the interior. The system then generates an anti-noise that neutralizes these sounds via the no fewer than 35 (!) speakers that the system has.
The occupants also have access to four doors that can be opened and closed electrically via the central touchscreen in the dashboard. This system also works on slopes of up to 10 degrees, while automatic hazard recognition ensures that the doors automatically stop opening or closing as long as there is a danger – for example, if a cyclist approaching from behind.
Every Range Rover also has Amazon Alexa on board. You may know that voice assistant from home, but in a car natural voice commands would eliminate the need to press buttons or screens, allowing you to operate many functions without taking your hands off the steering wheel or eyes off the road. Volvo, among others, offers a similar system, although it is from Google.
The system would work so well, says Land Rover employee Gorden Snoddy in conversation with our car editors, that the brand chose not to place ‘excessively large screens’ in the dashboard. With this, Land Rover sails a different course than, for example, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which mount enormous glass touch screens in the EQS and Taycan respectively. Striking, by the way: in combination with other Alexa devices, the system in the Range Rover can turn on the light at home, among other things.
Part electric
The new Range Rover will be available as a plug-in hybrid from 2022. Thanks to a relatively large battery pack of 38.2 kilowatt hours (of which 31.8 is usable), this version would be able to drive 100 kilometers per charge fully electrically. For the average Range Rover driver, or so the brand itself claims, that is enough to cover 75 percent of daily journeys on electricity.
The semi-electric Range Rover comes as P440e and P510e: in both cases a six-in-line petrol engine works together with a 105 kW (143 hp) electric motor. Given its name, the P440e delivers over 400 horsepower, while the P510e goes over 500 horsepower. At the moment parent company Jaguar Land Rover only gives the expected performance of the strongest version: the P510e can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.6 seconds and drive up to 140 kilometers per hour electrically.
In addition, a fully electric Range Rover will follow from 2024. The brand also keeps the specifications of that variant secretly, but a board member of the brand already told this site that the ‘electric range will be more than sufficient for the demanding customers of Range Rover’. Less than five hundred kilometers per charge would be a setback in this segment – especially with the technology that may be available by 2024 – but those figures will come later.
For the first few months, Land Rover will supply three diesel engines in the form of the D250, D300 and D350 and two choices that drink petrol. In addition to the six-cylinder P400, the P530 Twin Turbo V8 comes as a powerful top version, although this engine is said to be seventeen percent more efficient than the previous Range Rover V8. The luxury SUV will be available in two lengths: both the 5.05 meter longer Standard Wheel Base (SWB) and the Long Wheel Base (LWB, 5.25 meters long) are available with five seats, the longer variant also comes with an optional – according to Land Rover – ‘full-fledged’ third row of seats so you should be able to take seven adults with you.
Also as ‘SV’
For the first time in history, the ‘full-size’ Range Rover will also be available as an SV. This abbreviation comes from the ‘Special Vehicle Operations’ department, or SVO for short, which makes extra luxurious or sporty variants and specially adapts Range Rovers for demanding customers with specific wishes. SVO has been under the leadership of the Dutch-born Michael van der Sande for a few years, who enthusiastically explains the three versions of the Range Rover SV: ,,We will soon offer the car as SV Serenity and SV Intrepid, while customers can also opt for the extra luxurious SV Signature Suite with four seats.”
According to Van der Sanden, SVO has taken a detailed look at the Range Rover’s exterior and interior and has taken the materials, finish and luxury to an even higher level. For example, you can have various buttons in the car fitted with buttons made of ceramic, which has hardly been used in cars until now. The four-seat version can also be supplied with an electrically operated table in the rear, the frame of which is made from a single piece of aluminum. And if you want the color of your luxury sofa at home in your Range Rover, Michael van der Sande’s team can make that happen for you.
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