How Range Rover Developed the Sport Electric

Developing the new Range Rover Sport Electric was about much more than replacing an engine with electric motors. Range Rover engineers wanted the first fully electric Sport to preserve the personality that has separated the model from the larger Range Rover for more than 20 years. That meant creating an electric luxury sport utility vehicle that could still feel responsive on a winding road, comfortable on long journeys and remarkably capable when the pavement disappeared.

The project was developed alongside the larger Range Rover Electric, allowing engineers to share important electric vehicle technology while giving the Sport its own character. Both vehicles use the flexible Modular Longitudinal Architecture, which was designed from the beginning to accommodate different powertrains. For the Sport Electric, the platform incorporates a large 118.5 kilowatt hour lithium ion battery and an electric motor at each axle.

The 2 motors each produce up to 260 kilowatts. Together they can deliver as much as 550 PS and 850 Newton meters of torque, giving the electric model the highest torque output of any Range Rover Sport. With Dynamic Launch Mode activated, the Sport Electric can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in as little as 4.3 seconds.

But straight line speed was only one part of the development program. Engineers spent considerable time working on how quickly and precisely the vehicle delivers its power. Torque can build 50% faster than in the larger Range Rover Electric, helping give the Sport a more immediate response when the driver presses the accelerator.

The physical structure also became an important part of the transformation. The Range Rover Sport Electric has a body structure that is 61% stiffer than the plug in electric hybrid version, while its center of gravity sits 73 millimeters lower. Those changes gave chassis engineers a stronger foundation for creating the sharper handling characteristics expected from a Range Rover Sport.

A sophisticated collection of chassis systems was then developed around that structure. Dynamic Air Suspension works alongside Twin Valve Dampers, Adaptive Dynamics 2, electronic Active Roll Control and All Wheel Steering. Adaptive Dynamics 2 monitors 100 vehicle parameters as frequently as 500 times every second, continually adjusting the vehicle to help control body movement during braking and cornering.

Electronic Active Roll Control can apply as much as 1,400 Newton meters of force across each axle. Instead of allowing the heavy electric sport utility vehicle to lean excessively through corners, the system helps keep the body composed while preserving the comfort expected from a Range Rover.

Engineers did not restrict development to laboratories and computer simulations. The Sport Electric went through a global testing program designed to expose the vehicle to very different environments and driving conditions.

One important stop was the Magarigawa Club near Tokyo, Japan. The private circuit gave engineers an opportunity to work on the Sport Electric’s chassis calibration and driving responses on a demanding road course. The development team was not simply chasing faster numbers. The objective was to make the vehicle feel smaller, more planted and more responsive from behind the steering wheel.

Range Rover also approached sound differently. Without a combustion engine providing the familiar mechanical soundtrack, engineers developed a distinctive acoustic character specifically for the Sport Electric. Rather than trying to imitate a traditional engine, the system layers carefully designed tones that change with the vehicle’s different driving modes. The intention is to give the driver another connection with what the vehicle is doing.

Battery durability received its own demanding development program. At Jaguar Land Rover’s battery testing laboratory, live battery packs were subjected to multi axis vibration and shock testing while experiencing temperatures ranging from minus 40 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees Celsius. The battery itself sits inside a high strength aluminum enclosure designed to provide protection while integrating into the vehicle’s structure.

Thermal management was another major engineering challenge. Range Rover incorporated its ThermAssist heat management technology to help the battery and electrical systems operate efficiently under changing conditions. The Sport Electric also uses an 800 volt electrical architecture, allowing rapid charging and what Range Rover calls split charging technology.

Under ideal conditions, the vehicle can add as much as 136 miles of range in 10 minutes at a compatible rapid charger. Charging from 10% to 80% can take around 22 minutes. Range Rover quotes up to 378 miles of range under the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure and estimates up to 333 miles under its real world testing methodology.

Even the exterior received development work aimed at efficiency. An aerodynamically optimized grille and specially designed alloy wheels distinguish the electric model while reducing aerodynamic losses. Range Rover says these changes can contribute as much as 10 additional miles of driving range at motorway speeds.

Of course, creating an electric Range Rover Sport also meant proving that battery power would not compromise its traditional off road capability. Engineers developed a virtual all wheel drive system and a specially calibrated Intelligent Traction Management system to control the enormous amount of torque available from the 2 motors.

The finished vehicle can wade through water as deep as 900 millimeters and tackle gradients of up to 45 degrees.

For the final stage of its global development program, Range Rover took the Sport Electric somewhere far removed from an ordinary proving ground. The vehicle was brought to the Carrara marble quarries in Italy, surrounded by peaks reaching approximately 3,000 feet.

The terrain provided an unusual combination of steep gradients, tight hairpin turns, polished marble and deep layers of fine marble dust. The Sport Electric had to manage constantly changing levels of grip while climbing and descending through the quarry.

All Wheel Steering helped the large sport utility vehicle negotiate tight turns without needing to reverse, while the traction management system continuously controlled power delivery. The electric motors’ immediate 850 Newton meters of torque also provided the force needed for the steep climbs.

The Carrara challenge represented the final stop in a development journey that had taken the Sport Electric through laboratories, racetracks and difficult terrain around the world. It also continued a Range Rover Sport tradition that has previously included Pikes Peak, the 999 steps leading to Heaven’s Gate in China and an Icelandic spillway.

The finished Range Rover Sport Electric is therefore not simply an electric version of an existing vehicle. Its development shows how Range Rover attempted to use electrification to change the character of the Sport without removing the qualities that made the model successful in the first place.

It is quieter and more technologically complex, but underneath that new electric powertrain remains the same basic objective: build a Range Rover that can feel composed on a highway, engaging on a twisting road and unexpectedly capable when the road ends.