Electrification and luxury cars go together like silk and a good suit, unlocking absurd levels of refinement, effortless performance and near-total serenity. When you're attempting a hostile takeover of a multi-billion dollar company while pathologically tweeting about it, there's no better place to do it from than the lounge-like rear seats of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV or the Cadillac Escalade IQ.
Now British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, too, is making its biggest electrification push yet, with four new all-electric models on the way, the latest of which is the new Range Rover GT. It will be the fifth addition to the Range Rover portfolio after the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Velar and Evoque. JLR's other three EVs in the pipeline include the Range Rover Electric, Range Rover Sport Electric, and the polarizing Jaguar Type 01.
The upcoming Range Rover Sport Electric will arrive sooner, but it's based on a platform designed to support ICE vehicles. The GT will use a native, software-defined EV platform.
Land Rover isn't revealing the full design of the electric Range Rover GT. But this is a camouflaged preview.
View Price on AmazonI saw the new GT prototype in person at the automaker's Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Center in Wolverhampton, U.K. While I'm not allowed to discuss the exterior design or any technical details about its battery and motors until later this year, I can talk about its interior and what it felt like from the front and rear seats. The interior will likely be one of its biggest strengths, so we might as well start with that.
[Full Disclosure: JLR flew me to England and paid for hotel and travel expenses.]
JLR designers said the GT's interior was inspired by a modern luxury home. While that's mostly marketing nonsense, it did feel like that in a couple of ways. It gets the largest panoramic sunroof of any Range Rover, letting in ample natural light, and there are plenty of smooth, flat, table-like surfaces inside. Broadly speaking, Range Rover has taken the hyper-minimalist route, like Tesla, and managed to do so tastefully.
The interior of the Land Rover Range Rover GT.
There are no physical buttons on the center console, with most functions embedded in the central display. I loved that Range Rover didn't go with a pillar-to-pillar display like most luxury automakers do these days. Digital real estate is kept to a minimum, with an iPad-sized central infotainment screen and a small digital gauge cluster about the size of what's on the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Seated in a U.S.-spec, left-hand-drive car, I was able to reach the right corner of the central screen effortlessly, without leaning or moving forward. The screens themselves weren't switched on, so I can't comment on the software experience. JLR isn't particularly known for great software, and that's a big area for improvement even on its current lineup. Hopefully the BEV-native architecture will help on that front.
Another highlight of this interior is the material quality, which felt exquisite. The seats are made from what Range Rover engineers call "ultrafabrics," which are 50% lighter than leather and environmentally friendly. JLR claims to have simulated 10 years of wear on them and said the seats still felt new afterward. There will be Dual Tone and Shadow Black interior themes, but it's safe to assume customers will be able to personalize with a bucketload of options.
Source: insideevs.com
