Electric Range Rover is coming

The first images of Range Rover’s fully electric SUV have been revealed, showing a modern take on the iconic SUV. Range Rover’s first electric SUV is being tested ahead of its upcoming debut. Can Range Rover’s new EV compete with competitors like Porsche and other luxury automakers?

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) continues to see strong demand for its luxury vehicles: full-year sales (fiscal) were up 20% compared to 2020. The Range Rover Sport, for example, saw the highest sales growth, with 63,598 units sold, up 83% from the 34,789 sold last year.

In general, UK sales are up 24.5%, followed by North America (+22.5%), China (+14.4%), and Europe (+9.1%). Overseas sales are up 48% as of March. All this is, of course, due to the success of the Land Rover products, as Jaguar is awaiting its new electric products in 2025 and beyond and will be targeting a more uplevel luxury market with far fewer sales but much higher profits per unit sold.

Boost from EVs

Range Rover, Land Rover’s luxury division, expects the momentum to continue with the debut of its first fully electric SUV later this year. After record quarterly wholesale numbers in Q4, JLR said the first electric Range Rover is “generating strong interest.” In February, the company revealed that over 16,000 potential buyers had already signed up for the waiting list.

The first images of the initial Range Rover electric prototypes reveal that the iconic brand stays true to its roots. The electric SUV is unmistakenly a Range Rover, with a clean, modernist design and plenty of clues to its predecessors.

Range Rover claims its first EV will “lead the way for electric propulsion capability, refinement, and luxury travel”. The vehicle is being tested in extreme weather conditions, from the Arctic Circle, where temperatures are -40°C, to the deserts of the Middle East, where it can reach +50°C.

The first tests focused on core components like the battery and the electronic data processing unit (EDU). In a first for JLR, both (the battery and EDU) are assembled in-house.

Even better off-road performance

Range Rover’s new electric propulsion system  (developed in-house) will allow the brand to “exceed its already renowned performance on low-grip surfaces, ensuring all-terrain, all-weather, and all-surface capability”. The electric SUV features a new traction control system, a Range Rover first that improves performance in slippery conditions.

Rather than a solely ABS unit-based traction control setup, the Range Rover Electric distributes wheel slip management tasks to each electric drive control unit. Range Rover says this reduces the torque reaction time at each wheel from around 100 milliseconds to as little as one millisecond.

“Range Rover with electric power means customary Range Rover luxury, refinement, and capability plus near-silent fully electric propulsion with effortlessly smooth and relaxed journeys,” says Thomas Müller, JLR’s executive director of product engineering.

He explains that the Range Rover electric is being pushed to the extremes “to ensure its capability remains unparalleled when it reaches the public”.

Range Rover claims its new EV can plow through up to 850 mm of water. That’s a fording depth that equals that of the new all-electric Mercedes G-Class and beats the GMC Hummer EV by 38mm.

Of course, the first electric Range Rover will compete with this new Mercedes G and other terrain-capable electric off-roaders in the luxury segment. No further technical details or hints about a price tag are given.

Following the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport EVs, the brand is expected to launch two smaller electric SUVs, which could be Evoque and Velar models. These other two EVs are scheduled for 2026.