Mat’s Car of the Day: the new Range Rover Electric might be even better than the diesel or the V8

Land Rover’s never launched a fully electric car before. The closest it’s got is the I-Pace, from sister company Jaguar, as well as some excellent plug-in hybrid models.

But the new Range Rover Electric and its slightly smaller sibling, the Range Rover Sport Electric, are finally here. And they’ve been worth the wait. Electric power suits the Range Rover extremely well, and it hasn’t lost any of its luxury or ability in the process.

Here’s why I think this car should be on your shortlist, as well as three reasons you might want to steer clear.

Remember, you can buy a brand new or used car right here on Carwow. And you can sell your car, too. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.

Three good things about the Range Rover Electric

1. It suits having an electric motor

The Range Rover’s always been about its big, powerful engines, ever since it launched with a V8 petrol back in the 1970s. Well, the electric model might not have any pistons, but it doesn’t spoil the way the car drives.

In fact, with more than 500hp on tap, it’s really quick, yet the electric motor is so eerily silent it adds another layer of luxury to what’s already an incredibly comfortable experience.

2. It’s great off-road

It wouldn’t be a Range Rover if it couldn’t handle itself on the rough stuff, and the good news is that the Electric certainly can. While the battery pack reduces ground clearance by a tiny amount, it still has all the ability you’d hope for – and can leave almost every other electric SUV in the dust.

In fact, with the electric motor’s smooth, instant response and the granularity with which you can make tiny adjustments, it’s actually even easier to drive off-road than one of the diesels.

3. It’ll be the cheapest Range Rover to run by far

If you can plug in at home, on cheap electricity rates, then you might find that the Range Rover Electric only costs you about as much to run as a small petrol hatchback.

Things get even better as a company car, because the low Benefit-in-Kind means your tax bill would genuinely be about as much as a Dacia Sandero or Suzuki Swift.

Range Rover Electric deals

The Range Rover Electric starts from a whopping £154,070 – and because it’s so new, you can only save a few hundred pounds on this through Carwow.

You’d be better off leasing, where an Autobiography model would set you back £2,487 on a three-year, 10,000-mile-per-year contract. That’s still an awful lot of money, but it’s only around £500 more than a comparable diesel model or £200 more than the V8 petrol. High-mileage drivers could save that in fuel costs very quickly indeed.

Three annoying things about the Range Rover Electric

1. The Range Rover’s… er, range

Land Rover claims that the Range Rover Electric should manage around 330 miles in the ‘real world’ – separate to its 372-mile official claim. Well, we tested it over a good spell on Scottish roads – not known for being particularly high-speed – and saw pretty rubbish efficiency figures that would equate to a real-world range of about 245 miles.

Even with fast charging capabilities, that could prove annoying if you do lots of regular long trips.

2. The touchscreen isn’t very good

The most recent Range Rover facelift saw the interior stripped of nearly all its physical buttons – which would be fine if the touchscreen that remained worked really well.

Unfortunately it’s fiddly, unresponsive and the interface is a bit confusing.

3. The price tag

It’s difficult to ever justify paying over £150,000 for a car. In the case of the Range Rover Electric, the price is so high for three reasons – first the underlying car costs over £100,000 to begin with.

Then there’s the added expense of the electric powertrain, and finally the decision to only offer it in high-spec Autobiograhy trim or higher. You can actually spend a bit less by going for the Range Rover Sport Electric, which is a very similar car but available in lower trim levels.

Car change? Carwow!

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