Range Rover Electric images released as it begins testing on frozen lakes of Sweden
The first images of the Range Rover Electric prototype have been unveiled this week as the vehicles undergo cold temperature testing in the Arctic Circle.
British automaker JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) unveiled in late-2021 the first look at an all-electric Range Rover which the company planned to launch in 2024.
JLR doubled down on its long-term electric and digital strategy in May of 2023 with the announcement of plans to invest £15 billion and reskill over 11,300 employees as part of this transformation. This was followed two months later by parent company Tata’s announcement that it would invest £4 billion on a new EV battery manufacturing facility in the UK.
We got our first (though largely uninformative) glimpse of the Range Rover Electric at the end of last year when JLR unveiled a handful of photos and a teasing “first glimpse” in a new 40-second video in conjunction with the start of road testing.
However, JLR is now taking the covers off the Range Rover Electric as it undergoes cold temperature calibration assessment.
The all-black prototype vehicles are seen being put through their paces in -40°C temperatures in the Arctic Circle, while JLR says that other prototypes have also been tested in temperatures in excess of 50°C in the searing deserts of the Middle East.
The first tests in Sweden are reportedly focusing the capability of the battery and Electric Drive Unit (EDU) in extreme sub-zero temperatures.
In the process, however, testing has also demonstrated Range Rover’s new-in house all-electric propulsion system, which is expected to allow Range Rover to exceed an already impressive performance on low-grip surfaces, ensuring the all-terrain, all-weather, and all-surface capability of the Range Rover remains unparallelled in its class.
Similarly, though in a first for Range Rover, a new traction control system is being tested which is designed to provide superior levels of performance on icy or low-grip surfaces.
Rather than a traditional traction control setup based solely in an ABS unit, the Range Rover Electric distributes the wheel slip management task directly to each individual electric drive control unit. This reduces torque reaction time at each wheel from around 100 milliseconds to as little as 1 millisecond.
New software developed in house by JLR also enables precise EDU speed control for accurate management of wheel slip which is supposed to reduce the need for ABS intervention.
“To ensure we leave no stone uncovered, we are well underway with our physical testing and development programme, all designed at pushing Range Rover Electric to the extremes to ensure its capability remains unparalleled when it reaches you,” said Thomas Mueller, executive director of product engineering at JLR.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
