Range Rover Electric uncovered during extreme weather testing

23rd April 2024

Ethan Jupp

The all-electric Range Rover looms as the flagship in JLR’s house of brands readies one of the most hotly-anticipated variants since the debut of the original sport. Silent but with the power of a V8, the Range Rover Electric has been out testing.

And unlike most prototypes, it’s not really in need of any camouflage because it is just a Range Rover, that happens to be electric. We know there’s going to be a more filled-in grille design, we know there aren’t exhausts and that’s about it. And that’s fine, because Range Rovers look great and appeal to many as they are. It’s what’s inside that counts.

And what’s inside is, for the moment, still a mystery as it’s put through its paces in the Arctic Circle as well as in the Middle East, looking at how it copes with extreme temperatures ranging from -40 to 50 degrees centigrade.

Critical for the Range Rover Electric has been development of its traction control, which is all-new for this variant. Wheel slip management is handled by each electric drive control unit, though exactly how many motors the car will have hasn’t been specified just yet. What this does mean is that the time from putting your foot down to drive being delivered is significantly reduced, from 100 milliseconds to as little as 1 millisecond, Range Rover claims.

We do know it’ll be an 800-volt electrical architecture allowing a 10-80 per cent charge of the batteries in as little as 30 minutes. The battery, let’s face it, will probably be quite large, at 100kWh or more. As above, Range Rover have also claimed it’ll have P530 V8-matching performance and be able to wade through 850mm of water.

We’ll likely see a full reveal for the Range Rover Electric before the end of this year and finally know what motor and battery configuration it uses.

“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,” said Thomas Mueller, Executive Director of Product Engineering.

“To ensure we leave no stone uncovered, we are well underway with our physical testing and development programme, all designed at pushing Range Rover Electric to the extremes to ensure its capability remains unparalleled when it reaches you.”