First Drive: Has the Range Rover Sport lost its appeal by going electric?
The long-awaited Electric version of the Range Rover Sport has arrived, and James Batchelor has driven it.
What is it?
What’s new?
Its body structure is 61 per cent stiffer than the plug-in hybrid Sport’s, plus its centre of gravity is 73mm lower – all elements that improve the car’s dynamic qualities, while still ensuring that if owners want to ford a lake or climb a mountain, it can oblige.
What’s under the bonnet?
Two motors, designed and built by JLR itself in Wolverhampton, give a combined 542bhp and a mighty 850Nm of torque. Its 0-60mph acceleration time of 4.3 seconds is only beaten by the Sport SV with its 626bhp twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine.
What’s it like to drive?
The Sport has always been one of the finest large luxury SUVs money can buy, and there’s no change here with the Electric. It’s impressively agile on twisting roads, with the Electric featuring Land Rover’s clever Adaptive Dynamics 2 system that works hard to better control body roll and pitch.
Don’t think this is just the Range Rover Electric with a lower roofline, as the Sport is a far more engaging thing to drive. It’s more visceral, too, as the torque is deployed 50 per cent faster than the Range Rover Electric, and point-to-point it’s a stupendously quick car. And yet, in true Range Rover style, it’s quiet and magnificently refined and serene, but can also traverse the toughest terrain thanks to its 900mm wading depth and sophisticated twin-chamber air suspension. If anything, the Sport Electric is more impressive off-road than regular Sport models as the electric motors give near-immediate torque and traction.
A new ‘Single Pedal’ driving mode works excellently, providing one-pedal driving around town and excellent regeneration when driving quickly on faster roads.
How does it look?
What’s it like inside?
Cleverly, opting for the Electric has no impact on interior space. There’s still plenty of room for backseat passengers to stretch out, and the car is roughly on par with the petrol and diesel models in the boot department, at 627 litres.
What’s the spec like?
The £122,790 Autobiography ramps up the luxuries a little further, and then there’s the First Edition with its sole interior option of vegan-friendly ‘Ultrafabrics’ upholstery, limited colour palette, privacy glass and illuminated tread plates. This comes in at a rather considerable £126,290.
Every Electric can be put through Range Rover’s ‘Bespoke’ commissioning service, which allows customers to personalise their cars to practically limitless levels.
Verdict
The addition of electric power could have watered down one of Land Rover’s most dynamic products. But if anything, the serenity of electric power has added a new refined side to one of the brand’s more exciting models – and that’s before you remember that it’s probably more adept off-road, too.
The Range Rover Sport has always been one of the most fashionable cars on the road, and a fully-electric version is just going to make it even more appealing.