The new Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid, badged the P400e, will go on-sale in Australia in April 2018 from $95,100+ORC.

THE UPDATED RANGE ROVER Sport which has spawned the brand’s first-ever plug-in hybrid will see the P400e arrive Down Under in April next year priced from $95,100+ORC.

Speaking about the announcement, Managing Director at Jaguar Land Rover Australia, Matthew Wiesener, said: “As one of Australia’s best-selling premium luxury SUVs, we expect that the new technology and upgrades to the 2018 Range Rover Sport will be of great appeal to our customers. For the first time, Australian customers will experience zero-emission near-silent on and off-road luxury without compromising any off-road capability.

The pace of change is exhilarating and the 2018 Range Rover Sport is our first commitment towards our 2020 commitment.”

The Range Rover Sport P400e combines a 221kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine with an 85kW electric motor. This amounts to a 297kW total available power output. The 85kW electric motor housed in the ZF automatic eight-speed transmission at the centre of the vehicle alongside the 7kW on-board charger. The access point for the cable is at the front of the vehicle, while the prismatic cell lithium-ion battery is mounted at the rear beneath the boot floor.

When rapid charging, a full charge can be achieved in as little as 2 hours 45 minutes at home using a dedicated 32-amp wall box. The battery can be fully charged in 7 hours 30 minutes using the 10-amp home charging cable supplied as standard.

The Range Rover Sport P400e can travel up to 51km on battery power alone with two driving modes:

• Parallel Hybrid mode (the default driving mode) – combines petrol and electric drive. The driver can optimise battery charge or fuel economy by utilising one of two charge management functions:
• SAVE function – prevents the battery charge dropping below a pre-selected level.
• Predictive Energy Optimisation (PEO) function – entering a destination in the navigation system enables the feature, which utilises in built GPS altitude data for the selected route, to intelligently combine the electric motor and petrol engine to maximise fuel economy.
• EV (Electric Vehicle) mode – enables the vehicle to run solely on the electric motor using the energy stored in the battery, the ideal solution for quiet, zero emission journeys.

The P400e also offers a tweaked version of Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system which offers no “creep speed and maximum torque from zero rpm, to all four wheels”.

Beyond the P400e, the entire Range Rover Sport line-up has been revamped, with key changes to the interior, including the brand’s new Touch Pro Duo infotainment system which debuted on the Range Rover Velar and includes two high-definition 10-inch touchscreens mounted on the centre stack.

Following on from Discovery, there are up to 14 power points, including a domestic plug socket. And the Jaguar Land Rover Activity Key is also now available for RR Sport. Also, available, for the first time, is a gesture sunblind which can be opened and closed by an “advanced gesture control system that senses an occupant’s hand movement. All it takes to open the blind is a rearward swipe in front of the rear-view mirror, and forwards to close” and new “Pixel laser LED headlights” at the front.