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Weekend Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: The Range Rover Sport EV is finally out
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The Range Rover Sport EV is the much-loved Rover, all charged up. It’s got new tech, smoother controls and an improved centre of gravity. It even climbs stairs
The Range Rover Sport EV has been a long time coming. After what feels like an eternity of teasers, the electric line is out globally next month and should arrive in India around March. Look at the car and you may wonder what took the company so long; this appears to be just the regular Range Rover Sport.
That, turns out, is entirely the point.
Under the familiar skin sit 300 patents worth of tech, new 800V electrical architecture, two 326hp motors and a 118.5kWh battery, all validated over 60,000 hours of testing, the most for any Range Rover.
The motors are Land Rover’s own design, because nothing off the shelf could deliver the kind of instant, finely controlled torque the brand demanded for serious off-roading. The only real giveaways on the outside are a grille with narrower air slots and a new set of alloys. Land Rover deliberately didn’t tamper with the styling because customers were clear: Don’t change it, just make it better.
Is it better? A lap around the Goodwood circuit in the UK was our chance to find out.
The first impression is of eerie silence. All you hear is the blower working overtime on a hot day. Even when the tarmac ends and the gravel begins, the Sport EV feels like a magic carpet, gliding along on a pillow of velvet. The ride quality is even better than the standard car’s, and that’s saying something.
When you want a quick turn of pace, the combined 550hp and 850Nm don’t leave you wanting. Engage launch control and the Sport EV catapults forward, though the delivery is measured rather than manic. There is, however, a hint of torque steer from the front axle under hard acceleration, a slight tug at the wheel that reminds you how much muscle is being sent forward. The brakes on our prototype also felt a bit grabby, with a sharp initial bite. Land Rover engineers say production cars will have a more progressive pedal feel.
Then came the fun exercises. The Sport EV climbed a staircase and we even drove it through the fuselage of an Airbus. Silly? Absolutely. But it showcased what makes an electric drivetrain so effective off road.
Raise the suspension to off-road height, let the cameras and hill descent control do their thing, and the car simply walks over obstacles. The big surprise is how tidily this near 2.8-tonne SUV handles. Flick the wheel suddenly and you can feel the mass move, but otherwise it stays impressively planted through corners, helped by a centre of gravity that sits a significant 73mm lower than in the combustion car. Range Rovers have always had a top-heavy feel when pushed; this one doesn’t.
Questions remain. A real-world range of 531km is promised, but that figure could prove optimistic if driven briskly. The frunk is absent, and packaging the rear motor has killed off any seven-seat option. These are misses most owners may not miss at all.
Pricing isn’t announced yet, but expect it to sit above the locally assembled combustion equivalents. The electric Range Rover Sport doesn’t reinvent the formula. It quietly perfects it.
From HT Brunch, August 29, 2026
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