Living with the Range Rover Sport P400e
Review by Jacob Lerklint.
The Range Rover Sport P400e was the first plug in hybrid to be released from Jaguar Land Rover and now being almost four years old and with a new model to replace it soon - should you get one?
We spent some time with the same plug in hybrid configuration in the Velar, although with a slightly bigger battery. That was a great car but the electric range was slightly disappointing. The Range Rover Sport P400e has a 300hp 2.0 litre turbocharged engine combined with a 85kw electric motor coming from a 13.1kwh lithium ion battery, that is stored under the boot floor. Mated to that is the regular eight speed ZF gearbox. Combined power output is stated at 404hp and 640nm. With the batteries being stored under the boot floor you lose almost 300 liters of boot space, remaining is now a 489 liters capacity.
You get two different driving modes to choose from with the battery: you either drive it in full EV mode or the regular hybrid mode or if you want to save electricity for another time you can use the “save” button to engage the "EV-only range" for a specific part of the journey; for example when entering traffic in a city. There’s even a clever brain in the computer called ‘Predictive Energy Optimisation’ that uses the vehicle’s Navigation system to maximise fuel efficiency.
The official EV range is quoted at 48km but I only managed to drive approximately 30km before the battery was empty. That is not very impressive these days but you can’t forget that this car is basically four years old and will soon be replaced by an all new model. However, today there is a massive shortage of new cars so you might have to wait a year or two for the new Range Rover Sport PHEV.
Inside, the cabin now features the new Touch Pro Duo with the same two high-definition 10-inch touchscreens from the new Disco and Velar while more sustainable materials (26kg of recycled plastics and 40kg of natural materials such as wood veneers and seat leathers) are used in each car. Then there’s tech like the gesture sunblind that opens and closes when you waggle your hand around, plus Advanced Tow Assist, that makes pulling/reversing trailers a lot easier.
Driving and sitting in any new Range Rover is such a nice experience, everything you touch feels great and expensive. Either as a driver or passenger the Sport won’t disappoint you, as you waft along in comfort. I do feel like the legroom in the back could be slightly better though. The punch from the engine with the added boost from the electric motor gets you a 0-100kmh in a respectable 6.7 seconds. Even around corners the P400e impress, even though it weighs almost 300kg more than the equivalent petrol or diesel variant. The tiny 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder engine doesn’t make much noise if you are just puttering around but you do notice it if you are flooring it.
So, should you get a Range Rover P400e or should you skip the PHEV and buy the equivalent petrol or diesel without batteries? Tax incentives are still just in favour of the PHEV and you can commute on EV only for shorter journeys. I would recommend getting the fully electric variant but for that you’ll have to wait a couple of years, so while we wait the PHEV seems like a good compromise.