Goodbye
HELLO JEEP WRANGLER + GOODBYE NISSAN QASHQAI, RANGE ROVER VELAR, HYUNDAI i20N AND DACIA SANDERO
Soon electric Range Rovers will be tested here. But we’re first.
Range Rover Velar P400eS Month 8
The story so far
The end of eight months with plug-in midsize Rangie
+ Lovely to drive and a beautiful cabin
-Disappointing fuel economy, horrid charging interface
Logbook
Price £61,770 (£71,315 as tested)
Performance 1997cc turbocharged four-cylinder plus e-motor, 17.1kWh battery, PHEV, 398bhp, 5.4sec 0-62mph, 149mph
Efficiency 109.9mpg (official), 34.6mpg (tested), 49g/km CO2
Energy cost 34p per mile
Miles this month 1373
Total miles 7170
The Velar’s Hill Descent Control is locked to its lowest speed, 4mph, effectively becoming a massive dog lead to stop this off-road terrier dashing off downhill. And it’s a respectable hill: 200 feet of dried mud at Eastnor, Land Rover’s Gloucestershire proving ground.
The Hakuba Silver metallic nose points upwards as we crawl over the crest, before it bellyflops down like an elephant landing on a trampoline. The steering wheel jigs in my hands as the wheels settle into a rut, me adding the odd correction to avoid the banks by responding to the central screen’s pictures, collated from the off-roading cameras.
And there’s not a murmur of combustion, just the occasional whine of an electric motor too discreet to overwhelm the birdsong. Welcome to Electric vs Eastnor, the first time an electrified Landie has tried to complete an off-road circuit on nothing but electric power.
Soon prototype electric Range Rovers will be trampling these tracks as the company prepares its first EVs for 2024. Today it’s the turn of the PHEV, whose e-motor is sandwiched between the fourcylinder petrol and eight-speed automatic transmission.
Over eight months and 7000 miles, we’ve consistently seen 31 miles of electric range after charging, though typically you can’t run on electric until the car’s warmed up. Probably only half of our most regular journey –a two-mile nursery round-trip – was zero emissions.
But on this final Velar adventure, I lock the car in eSave, which doesn’t top up the 17.1kWh battery but preserves the 23 EV miles remaining. It’s a 150-mile motorway run at 33.6mpg; a properly hybrid run to Leicester days earlier returned 40.3mpg.
Over eight months the Velar averaged 35mpg – and we seldom ran it without charge.
The Velar covers 300 miles today, all in comfort thanks to the squidgy but supportive seats, with light entering the cabin via the £1350 glass roof. It’s a lovely interior.
Arriving at the Land Rover Experience Centre, instructor Richard Lambert puts the
