When Land Rover launched the latest Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque models on a brand-new chassis last year it said that “electrification” was a key part of the plan. Well, here we are with the first stage: plug-in hybrid versions of the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport.
According to Land Rover the Evoque has an electric range of 41 miles, a CO2 rating of 32g/km and, get this…201.8mpg. The Discovery fares slightly less well, with 175.5mpg, 36g/km and a 38.5-mile electric range. Unbelievable.
No, really. There’s no way anyone’s getting 201mpg from their plug-in Evoque or 175mph from their Disco Sport, but those numbers to mean, at least, that both are very tax efficient and have enough battery range to get to work and back without tapping into the fuel tank; according to Land Rover the average daily commute in the UK is 19 miles.
Badged ‘P300e’ in both cases, the Discovery Sports costs £45,370 and the Evoque £43,870. The hybrid setup links a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine driving the front wheels to an electric motor driving the rears. They have 200bhp and 109bhp respectively, are linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox and together give the cars their own sort of four-wheel drive. The 0-62mph time is 6.1 seconds for the Evoque.
Each will get to 84mph using the battery alone, bolstering the possibility that drivers could do their short daily routine trips using no fuel, although like all petrol-electric hybrids longer journeys will be ruinous for economy –a 1.5-litre petrol engine dragging around a massive SUV plus its electric motor and battery is not a recipe for parsimonious fuel use.
The usual electric car norms apply, so you can charge it from a 7kWh electric wall box (the sort you’d have installed outside your house) and the 15kWh battery will be 80% full within 90 minutes. From a rapid charger (32kWh) that takes just 30 minutes.
Both cars are available to order now.
Keyword: 200mpg Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery plug-ins launched