Land Rover has just recently hopped on the hybrid bandwagon, almost a decade after other automakers have been in the game. The hybrid Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models are based on Land Rover’s Premium Lightweight Architecture and share an identical powertrain.

Smooth electric drive and staggering performance

The automaker claims that as the first premium diesel-electric hybrid SUV on the market, the Range Rover Hybrid will offer fuel consumption of 6.4-litres/100km with CO2 emissions of 169 g/km. This will be achieved through a SDV6 3.0-litre diesel engine with a 35kW electric motor integrated to an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Together, the engine and the electric motor will produce 250kW at 4000 rpm and a class-leading torque figure of 700Nm between 1500 t0 3000 rpm. Both Range Rover hybrid models are said to accelerate from 0-100km/h in under 7 seconds reaching a top speed of 218 km/h.

In driver-selectable EV mode the Range Rover Hybrid can travel at speeds of up to 48 km/h for a range of up to 1.6km before the diesel engine seamlessly restarts. The entire hybrid system including the electric motor, inverter and lithium-ion battery pack tips the scales at less than 120 kg. The Range Rover Hybrid also has the same five-seat capacity and luggage space as the standard vehicle and retains the full-size spare wheel.

Both models are expected to be on sale in European markets in mid 2014, and though it’s unlikely that they will reach our shores, we are hopeful that if they do it will be in early 2015.

Range Rover Hybrid Gallery