Land Rover introduces Evoque and Discovery Sport plug-in hybrids

- Both the SUVs get P300e variant

- Gets an all-electric range of 66 kilometres

Land Rover has introduced a plug-in hybrid variant of the Evoque and Discovery Sport. The inclusion of this plug-in hybrid pair is important for the British carmaker. With no electric Land Rover yet, the plug-in hybrid of the two high selling models would help to reduce the carmaker’s average CO2 emissions, under the new EU rules.

Under development since 2016, the PHEV powertrain is based on Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA) which debuted last year. Powering the P300e plug-in hybrid models is a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 197bhp. And a 107bhp electric motor is mounted on the rear axle with the charge coming from a 15kWh battery pack. The result is a combined system output of 296bhp and total torque of 540Nm. With the electric motor on the rear axle, both the Evoque and Discovery Sport PHEVs are four-wheel drive.

The CO2 emission of the Evoque PHEV is down to just 32g/km (compared to 170g/km in a standard version). Meanwhile, the Discovery Sport PHEV emits 36g/km despite having seven seats. The PHEV powertrain is capable of going 66 kilometres (62 kilometres for Discovery Sport) on pure electric drive. And in terms of performance, the P300e models can do the 0-100kmph sprint in just 6.1 seconds and are capable of hitting a top speed of 135kmph on electric power alone. At higher speeds, the electric motor is decoupled to reduce aerodynamic drag, making the cars front-wheel-drive.

Charging the PHEVs can be done via a Mode 2 cable and a domestic three-pin socket, taking 6:42 minutes. Or a 7kW AC wall box can be used to recharge the battery from zero to 80 per cent of its capacity in one and a half hour. And a DC fast-charging (up to 32kW) can be used for 0-80 per cent charge time in just 30 minutes. The charging port is located on the rear quarter panel on the opposite side of the petrol flap.

Pricing for the Evoque P300e starts from 43,850 Pounds and it is available across S, SE and HSE trim. And the Discovery Sport comes in the same three trims but only with the R-Dynamic pack with pricing starting from 45,370 pounds. Production is still on hold at all JLR plants because of the pandemic, but deliveries of the new PHEVs are slated to commence in the third quarter of this year. Indian debut of the PHEV is also expected, which could happen next year.