Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery Sport plug-in hybrids revealed

Land Rover has unveiled a new plug-in hybrid drivetrain that will do service in select variants of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport from next year.
The British marque unveiled the new P300e PHEV powertrains on Wednesday, with Australian arrivals slated for the first half of 2021.

The Range Rover Evoque P300e and Land Rover Discovery Sport P300e combine a 147kW 1.5-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder Ingenium engine with an 80kW electric motor that draws power from a 15kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Drive is shuffled via a new eight-speed automatic.

Combined, the plug-in hybrid system develops 227kW of power and 540Nm of torque on both models, which share common architecture.

The PHEV application is most efficient on the smaller Range Rover Evoque P300e, which boasts a pure electric range of 66km from its rear axle-mounted electric motor, combined fuel efficiency of 1.4L/100km on the European WLTP cycle, and combined CO2 emissions of 32g/km.

By comparison, the Land Rover Discovery Sport P300e has a pure EV range of 62km, an official WLTP fuel consumption figure of 1.6L/100km and combined CO2 emissions of 36g/km.

Acceleration times likewise fall the way of the lighter Evoque, with a 6.4 second sprint over the Discovery Sport’s 6.6 second claim. Top electric speed is rated at an identical 135km/h for either model.

Also shared between the Range Rover Evoque P300e and the Land Rover Discovery Sport P300e are three methods of recharging. Using a traditional household wall outlet will require 6h42mins for a full charge, a 7kW AC point can boost power from zero to 80 per cent in 1h42mins, while a 32kW DC fast charger will complete the zero to 80 per cent top up in 30mins.

Drive is channelled to all four wheels via three different driving modes. The default ‘Hybrid’ mode draws power from both the petrol engine and electric motor, ‘EV’ relies on the electric motor only while ‘Save’ puts the petrol motor solely to use in order to maintain the battery’s state of charge.

Like other engines within the Range Rover Evoque and Land Discovery Sport families, the new PHEV drivetrain features a belt-integrated starter-generator that brings small efficiency gains over a traditional starter motor.

P300e variants of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport will be offered with the car-maker’s ‘Intelligent InControl Remote’ smartphone app, which keeps tabs on a vehicle’s charge, designates specific recharging times to maximise off-peak billing and pre-conditions the cabin to optimise range and comfort.

Pricing and local specification details for the new plug-in hybrid duo will be announced in the coming months.