Range Rover Sport range_e Diesel Hybrid Prototype spotted!

Range Rover Sport range_e Diesel Hybrid Prototype

Sometimes, the staff of Green Car Reports has to travel hundreds, even thousands, of miles to bring you first drive reports, auto show highlights and exclusive green-car coverage.

Other times, we just have to visit the local shopping mall. That's where we took these exclusive photographs of a completely undisguised Range Rover Sport diesel plug-in hybrid prototype, plugged in at a convenient public charging station.

Hide in plain sight?

Spotted on Saturday in an underground parking lot at a shopping mall in Bristol, U.K., the prototype looks on first glance like a standard white Range Rover Sport.


But the "Hybrid Electric Plug-In" lettering on the front bumper and the side graphics give it away. The test car bears identical markings to the Land Rover range_e concept shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show this past March.


Remarkably, though, this one wears none of the camouflage panels usually seen on prototypes when venturing onto public roads. Perhaps--channeling Edgar Allen Poe's The Purloined Letter--the makers thought it would be entirely hidden in plain sight?

Diesel electric plug-in hybrid

The range_e concept shown in Geneva shared its body with the 2012 Range Rover Sport, but the equipment under its hood had several new components compared to its fuel-guzzling cousin.

That concept--and surely this prototype too--was powered by a high-efficiency, turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 clean diesel engine, with a 69-kilowatt (93-hp) electric motor sandwiched between the engine and an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is fitted, of course--it is a Land Rover.

With a 14.2-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, the range_e was said to offer an all-electric range of up to 20 miles, a combined diesel-electric range of 690 miles, and a range-sapping top speed of 120 mph.

Three "fuel doors"

The diesel plug-in hybrid Range Rover we photographed is clearly a pre-production prototype, complete with various obligatory warning decals. It also has a string of lights that looked like a temporary state-of-charge indicator in the right rear window, above the J-1772 charging socket.

Altogether there are three "fuel door" openings on the prototype, two on the left and one on the right. The front left one obviously contains a J-1772 charging socket, since the car was plugged in to the garage's charging station. We expect the one on the right covers the standard diesel fuel filler.

The left rear door, we surmise, could contain a quick-charge socket--or perhaps a charging port of a different format.
 
Two interesting details: First, the center of the rear seat is marked with a "Not A Seating Position!" sign, noting that no restraints were fitted to that position. And second, there was a big bag of different cables, converters perhaps, in the load bay.

One-third the emissions

Our prototype's number plate indicates that the car we saw is a 2010 model, first registered on March 5 of that year. The CO2 emissions of the standard vehicle with a 3.0-liter diesel are given in the registration data as 243 g/km.

The "89 g/km" sticker on our car represents an emissions level almost two-thirds lower, meaning a significant proportion of the test cycle is likely spent in all-electric mode.

These appear to be the first published photos of this undisguised prototype, although the range_e demonstrated in Geneva is a sister car--also white--that was registered on the very same day.

Just for the record, this vehicle is clearly a genuine factory Land Rover prototype. It has nothing to do with the Liberty E-Range battery electric Range Rover conversion we managed to drive--barely--earlier this year.

As for our photos, we suspect a high-ranking development engineer at Land Rover was simply testing a running prototype in real-world use over the weekend--and happened to stop by for a bit of charge at our local mall.

Bristol is less than 100 miles away from Jaguar Land Rover's headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Coincidence? We think not.

Source: Green Car Reports
 

Revised Land Rover DC100 coming at Los Angeles Motor Show

It’s reported that Land Rover will be taking a revised version of the new Land Rover Concept – the Land Rover DC100 – to the Los Angeles Motor Show.

Land Rover DC100 Defender Concept

We had the first view of the new Land Rover Defender – the Land Rover DC100 Concept – at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month. And of its sport derivative, the Land Rover DC100 Sport, too.

But Land Rover made it clear that the DC100 is a work in progress, and that they were looking for feedback as the quest to replace the Defender with a 21st version gathers speed over the coming years.

The overall response to the new Defender was positive, even if the DC100 Sporty was wildly ‘Concept-y’. But it appears that Land Rover are moving the DC100 on quite quickly, and are planning to show a revised version at the Los Angeles Motor Show next month.

We don’t know how much the MK II version of the DC100 will change (Land Rover could do what Alfa Romeo did with the 4C and just change the colour), but if nothing else it show that Land Rover are keen to get the new Defender under the noses of the American car buyer. Which could mean the new Defender returning to the USA.

In conversation with Inside Line, Land Rover’s Global Brand Director, John Edwards, has said that the DC100 mustn’t concentrate on being appealing to ‘Surfer Dudes’ in North America, but must be fit for the ‘…Red Cross, Zambia or the Australian Outback’. Which are sensible perspectives, especially as Land Rover has plenty of vehicles that can fulfil that market.

But he went on to say that ‘…it would be nice if we can sell it [the new Defender] to Surfer dudes.’ Which Inside Line has taken as confirmation that the new Defender – when it arrives in 2015 – is heading to US shores. Which is entirely reasonable.



It also explains the sport new Defender concept – the DC100 Sport – which, with a bit less concept and a bit more practicality – is conceived exactly for the ‘Surfer Dude’ market. The DC100 Sport could well be the variant Land Rover sees as a prime candidate for the US market.

But it seems likely that, although Land Rover intends making the new Defender fit for the Third World, it sees sales in the First World as vital. And it could be the plan, with the current Land Rover Defender now likely to survive for another 10 years, to get sales of the new Defender rolling in Western markets before rolling out a real rufty-tufty version for the Third World, as the old Defender starts to retreat from the market.

We may learn more at Los Angeles.

Source: Cars UK

Land Rover to unveil Defender concept (DC100) in Frankfurt

The Defender Concept - DC100 from Land Rover

London, Aug. 31: 

Land Rover will unveil the DC100, the concept car for its replacement of the iconic Defender four-by-four, at next month's Frankfurt auto show. It's the latest sign that JLR is ramping up its £5-billion investment drive across the two brands.

Production of the re-designed “Defender for the 21st century” is set for 2015, the company said as it unveiled images of the concept car for the first time.

Over the past few months, JLR, which is targeting 40 product actions in the next five years, spending £1 billion during each of those years, has released a number of new and updated vehicles.

This includes the Range Rover Evoque, which goes on sale in September, and the launch of a four-cylinder diesel version of the XF. It has also announced production dates for its C-X75, a hybrid supercar.

 

Heart of the brand

Analysts believe the latest announcement is one of the most significant steps it has taken to date. 

“The Defender is at the heart of the brand,” said Mr Tim Urquhart, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight in London.

Though the Defender itself was launched in the 1980s, it dates back to 1948, when the original Land Rover series was launched, since when around 2 million vehicles have been sold.

“It simply has to be done in the right way encapsulating the values of the previous vehicle: being: tough, rugged and reliable and able to go everywhere,” Mr Urquhart added.

The company's description of the concept car as “functional and purposeful” suggests that this will remain key to the new design.

“Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world,” said Mr Gerry McGovern, the director of design at Land Rover.

Jaguar Land Rover has come to represent an increasingly significant part of Tata Motors: though in the quarter ending June income after tax fell by 10 per cent year-on-year to £220 million.

Earlier we revealed that Land Rover is going to debut 2015 Land Rover Defender in 2011 Frankfurt Auto show. Read here: 2015 Land Rover Defender Concept To Debut Next Month at Frankfurt Motor Show

Land Rover debuts new Range_e concept models

British heavy-duty motor manufacturer Land Rover has unveiled three Range Rover concept models as part of the Royal Automobile Club's (RAC's) Future Car Challenge (FCC), incorporating plug-in electric and diesel hybrid engine machinery.

The brand hopes to include the technology in future models following its expected first diesel-electric hybrid car launch in 2013.

Range Rover's Range_e four-wheel-drive cars are supported by the government's Technology Strategy Board and are a "welcome" addition to the RAC hosted event, according to Ben Cussons, chairman of the RAC Motoring Committee and the FCC Technical Panel.

The RAC's challenge begins on Saturday November 5th, when cars will race the famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in reverse, trying to expend the least energy possible in doing so.

Mr Cussons added: "The RAC Future Car Challenge is, by definition, an event to bring future vehicle technology to the attention of the car-buying public. This will enable them to make better informed choices."

Meanwhile, fellow British car brand Vauxhall recently managed to scoop Auto Express's top award for its green technology car, the Ampera E-REV, at the 2011 Next Green Car Awards.

2015 Land Rover Defender Concept To Debut Next Month at Frankfurt Motor Show

Land Rover reportedly believes its time to make an important decision regarding the future of the Defender, and that means a new model will be developed or the tough SUV will be dropped from the lineup. The time is passing and Land Rover Decided to bring a new Defender concept, which is set to make its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The purpose of the concept is to see what kind of feedback an all-new model would receive while also demonstrating that Land Rover is serious about continuing the Defender.

John Edwards, brand’s director, says that he ‘can’t imagine not producing a successor’ to the 63 year old four-wheel drive that established the Land Rover brand. Still, much like the Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen, the Land Rover Defender is widely used by militaries and world organizations and that means it has to be built to some very specific guidelines. The production version is scheduled for release in 2015, and must sell in annual volumes of 60-80,000 units to be viable.

Edwards also says the new Defender needs to be different and unique enough to command a higher price than its large-volume and cheaper rivals, but the price cannot be too high to separate it from the market.

The company is currently exploring the possibility of using a cost and complication-reduced Discovery chassis or engineering a new, bespoke chassis among other options. Its design must allow for the wide range of body types that the Defender has long offered, and needs to be repairable in remote territory and this isn’t quite easy.

Finally, he believes that whatever solution Land Rover finally picks, ‘it won’t please everyone’, because with so many fans and opinions it will be difficult to avoid disappointing some. The challenge is to please most of them and more importantly, attract new buyers to a vehicle of which only 18,000 were made last year.

Land Rover is set to bring a concept version to Frankfurt and perhaps this move is to gauge media and consumer interest in an all-new Defender.

Price: is much too soon to talk about prices, but keep in mind that the 2011 Defender is priced around £30,000.00 (ON-THE-ROAD PRICE for Defender 110 XS Utility Wagon) and the 2015 model will probably be priced slightly higher

Land Rover Will Unveil Defender Concept at 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show

Just the Facts:

• Land Rover will show a Defender concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, as it mulls a replacement for the current model.
• Land Rover considers this car vital because it's where the brand sprang from after World War II, even if most of the business these days is centered on more luxurious vehicles.
• Land Rover may elect to develop a new platform with a separate chassis for the next Defender, allowing a wide variety of vehicle types, as with the current model.

LONDON — Land Rover will show a Defender concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.
The company, now controlled by India's Tata Group, considers this car vital because it's where the brand sprang from after World War II, even if most of the business these days is centered on more luxurious vehicles.

The current Defender dates to 1983 and is a direct descendant of the original 1948 Land Rover Series I.
The business plan for — and the extent of — the new-generation Defender family is the challenge.
Land Rover may elect to develop a new platform with a separate chassis for the next Defender, allowing a wide variety of vehicle types, as with the current model. Or the company could use an adapted, complicated and cost-reduced LR3 chassis. Expect some clever ways of achieving body modularity (to get station wagons, crew-cabs, pickups and a military version) without costing a fortune and with better finish.

Company planners have categorized the potential SUV market as luxury, leisure and utility, and they're working on how the Defender can score a bigger slice of the utility market and make money without the economies-of-scale benefit and with the grip Toyota and others have on the market.

Land Rover ultimately may have to take a premium utility stance with the new Defender, and hope that the style and depth of competence will allow a higher price.

The company also will have to get reliability licked once and for all — a constant sticking point in the U.S. as well as the home market.

Land Rover reckons it needs to sell 60,000-80,000 units annually to make the program pay. Military sales are attractive because of the parts business. Last year, it sold 18,000 Defenders.

Inside Line says: The company is mulling a fourth plant, possibly in China, for Land Rover manufacture. China is now its second biggest market, behind the U.K. and ahead of the U.S.