Check out Land Rover's new plug-in hybrids
Business people of England, please be upstanding for the new plug-in hybrid versions of the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. With claimed CO2 emissions of 36 and 32g/km respectively, getting a P300e instead of a petrol or diesel will save you literally thousands in tax.
They talk a good game, too. This platform was developed with a plug-in powertrain in mind, so Land Rover has managed to squeeze a 15kWh lithium-ion battery under the rear seats without compromising passenger or luggage space. Said battery powers a 108bhp electric motor integrated into the rear axle, which by itself can propel the Evoque for about 66km or the Disco for about 61km at speeds of up to 135kph.
Powering the front axle is a new 1.5-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine with 197bhp. The two power sources can either work together in default ‘Hybrid’ mode, or independently in ‘EV’ and ‘Save’ modes. To get the most out of the battery it’s best to set the built-in sat-nav, even if you know where you’re going, so the system can decide when and where to deploy charge for max efficiency.
Performance isn’t bad. Floor it and you’re looking at 0-100kph in 6.4 seconds in the Evoque and 6.6 seconds in the Disco. Meanwhile Land Rover claims 1.4 litres/100km for the Evoque and 1.6 litres/100km for the Disco, though obviously you probably won’t see those kinds of numbers day-to-day.
You can drive them off-road, should you so wish. The Evoque and Disco P300e still have all the modes of the normal cars, and the batteries are protected by a 6mm-thick steel undertray, but ground clearance is down by a few millmetres.
Charging the battery on a normal three-pin plug takes 6hrs and 42mins, so you’ll want to get a 7kW wallbox installed. They deliver an 80 per cent charge in under 90 minutes. Find a 32kW DC chargepoint and the same takes just half an hour. Regen braking is of course a thing – lift off and the Evoque/Disco decelerate at a rate of up to 0.2g. The brake-by-wire system is said to “seamlessly blend regenerative and friction braking”.
We’ll be the judge of that, when we drive them post-lockdown. If you want one regardless of our opinion, order books are open.
