Land Rover plans to launch four new hybrid models

KUALA LUMPUR: Land Rover is eying to launch four new vehicles, all with an electric motor (alongside convention mill) at heart. It means that these upcoming coasters will either be hybrid or PHEV models. Recently, the carmaker also announced that it would undertake an “extremely significant two-year period of consolidation and expansion” and the plan mentioned above is a part of it.

The fifth-gen Range Rover is also scheduled to be unveiled in 2021. The automaker said that this time the car will get a PHEV model as its mainstream version and will be based on a new aluminium platform. This makes the model lighter than the JLR aluminium architecture based model. Moreover, the new architecture can offer space for both an electric system and the conventional engine.

Meanwhile, an all-electric Range Rover will also be launched, and it will target the East Asian market primarily. It is expected that the PHEV variant will have a maximum share in the sales. It will get a new straight-six Ingenium engine which will be further assisted by two electric motors, with one driving the front wheels and the other one providing the power to the rear axle.

A battery is also a part of the system, which will provide a pure electric range of around 64 kilometres. It looks like that this is going to make the system much heavier, but the carmaker’s engineers expect that the downsized engine and a lighter platform will keep the overall weight of the car in a subtle range.

On the other hand, the mild-hybrid model is expected to get the same engine, which Range Rover Sport showcases. The new straight-six Ingenium mill will provide maximum power in between 300 to 400 hp. It will be further assisted by a twin-scroll turbocharger and a 48-volt electric supercharger. There will also an energy recovery system to support the electric supercharger.