Photo: Land Rover
It’s been a long, long time since Land Rover presented the DC100 concept car (pictured) was presented. And at the end of January 2017, it will be a year since the last Defender rolled off the assembly line in Solihull. Under the watch of Gerry McGoven as design director, the replacement of the Defender is coming together nicely, and as expected, some sort of electrification is in the pipeline.
At the U.S. launch of the 2018 Range Rover Velar, Motor Authority managed to catch up with the executive vice president for Jaguar Land Rover North America to find out what’s cooking. And when asked about electrification, Chirs Marchand replied, “That’s as far as we’re willing to go with that.” That’s a confirmation, alright. And it’s not exactly hard to zero in on what lies ahead.
Both Jaguar and Land Rover are committed to electrify and hybridize their model lineup in 2020, and with the all-new Defender coming in 2018 for the 2019 model year, you can bet your two cents on an assortment of eco-friendly powertrain options. Based on what the British automaker did with the facelifts for the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, it’s highly likely the P400e plug-in hybrid to make the cut, packing an electric motor and a 2.0-liter turbo engine.
The four-cylinder Ingenium is good for 300 PS, and with the help of the 85-kW electric motor, you’re looking at a system output of 404 PS (398 horsepower) and 640 Nm (472 pound-feet) of torque. In all likelihood, the 13.1 kWh lithium-ion battery will offer more than 31 miles (51 kilometers) of all-electric range, which is just about adequate for the fuel efficiency-minded public.
Of course, shoehorning an LS3 V8 in the engine bay is more interesting than a plug-in hybrid, but that’s how the cookie crumbles in this day and age. As long as the government mandates manufacturers to go greener and greener, there’s no turning back from the path we’re on.
Both Jaguar and Land Rover are committed to electrify and hybridize their model lineup in 2020, and with the all-new Defender coming in 2018 for the 2019 model year, you can bet your two cents on an assortment of eco-friendly powertrain options. Based on what the British automaker did with the facelifts for the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, it’s highly likely the P400e plug-in hybrid to make the cut, packing an electric motor and a 2.0-liter turbo engine.
The four-cylinder Ingenium is good for 300 PS, and with the help of the 85-kW electric motor, you’re looking at a system output of 404 PS (398 horsepower) and 640 Nm (472 pound-feet) of torque. In all likelihood, the 13.1 kWh lithium-ion battery will offer more than 31 miles (51 kilometers) of all-electric range, which is just about adequate for the fuel efficiency-minded public.
Of course, shoehorning an LS3 V8 in the engine bay is more interesting than a plug-in hybrid, but that’s how the cookie crumbles in this day and age. As long as the government mandates manufacturers to go greener and greener, there’s no turning back from the path we’re on.
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