If you’re not holding out for the battery-electric Range Rover due in 2024, chances are the model you have in mind is one with an “e” in its name, tempting though the twin-turbo V8 might be.
A lower-case e is Land Rover nomenclature for plug-in hybrid and there are two models available, the P440e and P510e. Land Rover calls them “extended range hybrids” but it turns out they are a bit more extended than was first thought. Their supplementary 141PS (105kW) electric motor and 38kWh battery stack deliver WLTP-standard electric-only running of 70 miles – said to be a real-world 54 miles – which is 13 per cent more than was expected. Land Rover says it is enough range to account for 75 per cent of all Range Rover journeys; it is, for example, enough for 27 return trips from Downing St. to Buckingham Palace without so much as a puff of exhaust smoke.
The other thing we didn’t know before about the PHEV versions which we do now is their price, at least for the P440e which will cost from £103,485. Both the P440e and the P510e are six-cylinder petrol powered with outputs in PS that correspond to their model numbers, so the 510PS (380kW) 510e model is the performance choice with 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds, impressive given CO2 emissions of just 18g/km. It’s a shame you can’t get this plug-in drivetrain with the other big headline of the new Range Rover, its optional seven-seat layout.