The Mk2 Range Rover Evoque arrived in late 2018, and as per a report from Autocar filed in May 2021, the third-gen Evoque will replace it in 2024. As part of the ‘Reimagine’ global strategy, Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that it will be electric-ready, and customers will be able to drive a Range Rover Evoque Electric in the foreseeable future.
2024 Range Rover Evoque to use the EMA platform
JLR is developing a new platform called ‘Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA).’ The EMA is a native BEV or a pure electric biased platform that will also support advanced electrified internal combustion engines. At the 2021 Investor Day last March, JLR revealed that the new Evoque and Discovery Sport are among the cars it plans to build on the base. It disclosed that the first model based on this platform is scheduled to arrive in 2024 and that, as stated above, it will be the next-gen Evoque.
Flat floor & 800V capability
The EMA platform will feature a flat floor that maximizes cabin space and come with in-house developed electric drive units that deliver 92% efficiency. They will be 800V capable and also the most torque dense in the class. JLR estimates their energy efficiency to be 4-4.5 miles/kWh, which would improve greatly on the I-Pace’s energy efficiency ratings. For reference, the I-Pace has an energy efficiency rating of 35.4-40.5 kWh/100 miles (2.4-2.8 miles/kWh) in both EV320 and EV400 variants, as per Europe’s WLTP.
An all-electric Range Rover Evoque is confirmed under Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy. Image Source: Jaguar Land Rover
Battery production
A report from Financial Times suggests that JLR could source batteries for the Range Rover Evoque EV from Envision AESC, which already plans to set up a new battery manufacturing plant in the UK. To be built in Sunderland, the UK plant will serve Nissan.
Should JLR and Envision AESC also work out a deal for battery supply, JLR’s potential volumes may warrant another battery plant in the UK. JLR wants batteries sourced from a local factory, but production sites in Spain and Hungary, where the costs could be lower, are also under consideration, it is reported. Neither JLR nor Envision AESC has confirmed talks about a battery supply deal.
Unique proportions
On January 31, 2022, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore briefly talked about the EMA platform during the parent company’s Q3 FY22 earnings conference call. He said that JLR is developing this platform because, like the MLA, it will allow designing cars with unique proportions and capabilities.
The MLA platform – it’s a unique platform. It’s a platform which is bringing (not only) all this proportion that you can see on our cars, but also all the extraordinary capabilities which make them completely unique. And that’s a differentiation that we continuously want to enhance. So the consequence is that we are creating at the moment (as) we speak the new EMA platform, because it’s going to bring a unique proportion and capabilities to the cars that we’re going to manufacture.
Thierry Bollore, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover (Tata Motors Q3 FY22 earnings conference call on January 31, 2022)
Price & Positioning of the 2024 Range Rover Evoque
The Autocar UK report says that the next-gen Evoque (and the next-gen Discovery Sport) will have a higher entry pricing. At the time of reporting, the base price of the Evoque started at USD 45,000 in the USA and GBP 32,590 in the UK. A part of the price hike will be owing to the higher costs of the highly electrified platform. The British publication speculated a base price close to GBP 40,000 (20.6% higher) for the 2024 Evoque in the UK.
While the higher price would communicate its premium positioning over German rivals, only revolutionary changes would justify it. Thanks to the flat floor, it promises to be the most spacious Evoque of the three generations, a good starting point.
2024 Range Rover Evoque part of the ‘Reimagine’ global strategy
JLR plans to come out with six Land Rover BEVs by 2026 and estimates 60% of its sales to come from BEVs by 2030. With the Range Rover Evoque, one of its top three best-selling Land Rovers, offering it in a pure electric powertrain in the next generation was always on the cards.
It won’t surprise us if the 2024 Range Rover Evoque turns out to be a BEV-only model. That decision could depend on the pace of electrification in the model’s key markets around the world in the next three years. If that’s not feasible, the all-new Evoque range could comprise a range-extender variant with a lean-burn engine besides pure electric variants. The Range Rover Evoque EV would rival the BMW iX1, Volvo XC40 Recharge, and the Mercedes EQB.
Featured Image Source: Jaguar Land Rover
Keyword: Next-gen Range Rover Evoque arrives in 2024 on Electric-ready platform