Land Rover has opened the curtains on the long-awaited new flagship SUV, the Range Rover.
Arriving early next year, the reinvented luxury SUV is only the fifth new Range Rover since the model debuted in 1970. It launches with a range of electrified engines plus new technology and will come as a pure-electric version in 2024.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Land Rover’s designers have shunned the temptation to radically overhaul the classic Range Rover look and instead have focused on paring down the styling.
The front end has similar proportions and appearance to the outgoing model, with only the new grille and cut-glass-like digital LED headlights appearing to be different. The new car still has the falling roofline, strong waistline and rising lower sill that’s been a feature of all previous four generations of the Range Rover.
What really marks out the new car from the previous Range Rover is the rear end, which is dominated by a gloss black panel that extends across the tailgate and includes ‘hidden until lit’ vertical tail-lights.
Other styling changes – which could also be classed as technological improvements – include fully flush window glazing and the bonnet shut-line that’s twice as tight as the old car’s.
Inside, the Range Rover gets a new interior that’s posher than ever. Land Rover says it’s worked hard on making the new car the perfect ‘calm sanctuary’ with a focus on unfussy design and high-quality materials.
There’s the trademark, throne-like elevated driving position, but now there’s also a large 13.1-inch curved touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard, air vents that always remain straight and level no matter which direction they’re facing, and wood veneers crafted using techniques learnt from cabinet makers.
And for the first time on a Range Rover, buyers can choose between leather upholstery and an eco-friendly interior that uses a mixture of wool, artificial leather and recycled materials.
In terms of technology, the new Range Rover gets a Cabin Air Purification Pro system to stop nasty bacteria from entering the car.
There’s also active noise cancellation, Amazon Alexa and software-over-the-air updates, among other features.
One of the cleverest is the remote parking system that allows the driver to manoeuvre the Range Rover in and out of parking spaces from their smartphone while standing up to three metres away, and every Range Rover has all-wheel steering.
Despite vowing never to do so, Land Rover will now offer a seven-seater Range Rover after bowing to pressure from international customers.
The Range Rover Long Wheelbase, with a 75mm longer wheelbase, will be offered as a standard five-seater or as a seven-seater with two extra seats in the boot. And just like the Volvo XC90 and Land Rover Discovery, the two rearmost seats are large enough to carry adults.
It’s an electronic active roll control system that continually optimises the front and rear anti-roll bars to prevent roll and encourage quicker corner responses.
There’s also a new air suspension system that reads the road for potholes ahead, torque vectoring by braking to enhance ability and grip on twisty roads, while to make towing manoeuvres easier there’s Advanced Tow Assist, Hitch Assist and Trailer Stability Control – the first one allows the driver to reverse a trailer attached to the car by using a rotary controller on the centre console.
It gives the posh SUV a rather futuristic look, quite unlike other Range Rovers with their rather ornate rear lights on show. The Range Rover’s famous split-opening tailgate still remains, though, and buyers can opt for the ‘Tailgate Event Suite’, which turns the tailgate into luxurious seating for two people.
A full-electric Range Rover will launch in 2024, likely to be Land Rover’s first pure EV, but no details have been revealed as to its battery pack or range on a full charge.
Other engines include two 3.0-litre mild-hybrid diesels giving 296bhp and 345bhp, a 396bhp 3.0-six-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol and a new BMW-derived 522bhp 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8.
Aside from the SV, there will be SE, HSE, Autobiography and First Edition trim levels.