ROAD TEST 5739

Does six-pot PHEV power suit the remit of this updated luxury off-roader?

Inthe final reckoning the ‘L460’ will go down as one of the more radical generations of Range Rover. The monolithic exterior still turns heads four years on, with an almost pebble-smooth look that combines to striking effect with simply enormous body panels, while the L460 is the model that has taken electrification mainstream for the world’s best-known luxury off-roader.

Mild hybridisation is now table stakes for both petrol and diesel Range Rovers, and the former is also available in PHEV guise. Its pioneering role isn’t over yet, either. Later this year JLR will launch the first pure-electric Range Rover, which has been seen hot-weather testing on 250ft sand dunes in the UAE’s Al Badayer desert in Sharjah. Resilience in high temperatures is a key challenge of the project, as is an all-new traction management system to replace the traditional ABS-based set-up.

An electric Range Rover should be a game-changing proposition in the luxury SUV segment. In advance of this car’s arrival, JLR has lightly facelifted its flagship across the range, with new powertrains and alterations to the cabin. Here we test the plug-in hybrid P550e, three years on from our full road test of the diesel D350, which we rather liked. Does PHEV power suit the big Rangie? Let’s find out.

DESIGN &ENGINEERING

★★★★☆

PROS Wears its huge proportions well; appreciably serious chassis

CONS PHEV weighs nearly three tonnes in running order

With no fundamental changes to speak of, the Range Rover continues to use the aluminium-intensive MLA-Flex platform, which was designed from the outset with hybrid and full-electric variants in mind. Air suspension is also deployed as standard, giving the car an enormous spread of ride heights that range from 135mm above the default setting (for off-roading) to 50mm below it (for easy cabin access). Active anti-roll bars and rear-axle steering are standard issue, the latter shrinking the turning circle of this 5052mm-long SUV to just 11.4m wall to wall.