Living with the Range Rover Velar
Review by Jacob Lerklint
The Range Rover Velar first launched in 2017 to fill the gap between the Evoque and the Range Rover sport. Now four years later and circa 75,000 European sales later, it's time for a slight refresh and the introduction of a Plug in hybrid Velar.
And that is the one we have been driving for the last couple of days. The Velar P400e PHEV consists of a two liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to a 17.1kWh battery. You can find the same engine in almost all range rovers today, so it’s not specific to the Velar. Combined power is a healthy 404hp and 640nm. The Velar comes standard with 4WD and uses the well known eight speed ZF gearbox. Claimed electric range is supposed to be around 60 kilometers but in reality it comes short of that claim, we'll come back to that.
Just after a couple of minutes behind the wheel you get that classic comforting feel of being in a Range Rover; everything is smooth and relaxing. There is no issues finding the perfect seating position and you just waft away in quietness. You easily forget that it’s powered by a tiny four cylinder engine; it doesn’t make much of a noise and with the eight speed ZF gearbox the drivetrain feels refined.
Steering is light and surprisingly precise when you want it to be. Turning circle is really impressive for this kind of vehicle, it does feel smaller than it is. Even though it has around 400bhp it never feels sporty but for its 2,2 tonnes weight it handles more than fine. You can’t get the plug in hybrid models with air suspension which is odd but the regular setup is so good I actually had to double check that it wasn’t on air suspension. It’s quick; 0-100kmh will take circa 5 seconds and it feels quicker than that. You get three driving modes, Hybrid, Full EV mode or Save if you want to spare the battery for later use. You can’t drive too far in EV mode though, after just 45 kilometers the fully charged battery was empty and the petrol engine kicked in. I would’ve liked to see a slightly better EV range considering the rather large 17.1kWh battery. You can charge the battery from 0-80% in about 30 minutes from a rapid charger with the car taking a maximum of 32kw. But most people will charge from home or at work. With a 7kw domestic wallbox you can expect 0-80% in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
For the 2021 facelift you get a slightly different interior, the rotary dial in the center console has been replaced by a normal gear lever and the infotainment is now using the latest Pivi pro system. For a touchscreen-only it generally works okay but some settings can be annoyingly difficult to find. Interior quality is high and almost looks as good as the exterior of the car; which is undoubtedly one of best looking SUV’s for sale right now. The backseat comfort is good but not great for a Range Rover. You don’t get as much rear legroom as you'd think and the visibility from the backseat is slightly blocked by the huge front seats. You can slide your feet under the seats which makes it slightly better. Boot-space is slightly reduced with the plug in hybrid model but you still get an impressive 558 liter capacity.
The Velar P400e (S) starts at 841 900SEK and the base car is well equipped, however adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring is a 20,000SEK optional extra; which is ridiculous when the 360 cameras and the all terrain response system is standard equipment. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to take it off-road however that doesn’t really matter as it will probably never end up there. I’m sure the capabilities off-road are superb though, like most Range Rovers are. Our average fuel consumption was 9L/100km, slightly thirstier than we expected but you can’t forget that this thing weighs over 2.2 tonnes.
So, what is my conclusion after spending a weekend with the 2021 Range Rover Velar P400e (S) plug-in hybrid? Well, if you want a comfortable, good looking SUV with more than enough power; the Velar is a good choice, I just wish it had slightly longer electric range.
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