Images might have leaked out last week, but now the new 2022 Range Rover has been officially revealed. Now in its fifth generation, the new SUV is all about design, tech, luxury and, not surprisingly, being able to drive across continents, although the closest most owners will get to going off-road is parking on the pavement.
Designed for simplicity
If you expected radical design changes for the new Range Rover, then you'll be disappointed. Massimo Frascella, Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) design director has gone with an evolutionary approach, telling us that it was important to stay true to the DNA of the model but always staying relevant. That essentially means 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', but Frascella has followed the new JLR design theme of reductionism, removing stuff that is superfluous and following four key design elements: modernism, integrity, purpose and desirability. We can translate that for you - it means making it look good, so people want to buy it.
It won't surprise you to learn that the route to the new design started with the Velar, and we're not talking the modern one either, but the original, which was the prototype for the first-generation Range Rover. That required a return to clean looks with no fussy elements, just simple lines that convey a sense of proportion and status. The side emblems have been flattened further into the bodywork, the height of the line beneath the window raised 5mm to give more emphasis to the side profile and crucially, the shut-lines, always a point of discussion on a JLR product, have been reduced.
Technology requiring 125 patents
What you really want to know about though is the rear with its curved black arch. Frascella explained to us that the idea for it came from the dark screen of an iPhone, which only lights up on request. The same is true of the taillights, a very clever piece of engineering that includes some of the 125 patents on the new Range Rover. The lights use LEDs but rather than facing outwards as you would expect, they face into the car and shine onto a number of mirrors that magnify the light and shoot it back out through the dark plastic with enough intensity to meet legal standards.
Inside, there's more tech including the new 13.1-inch Pivi Pro infotainment system and a digital instrument cluster, all designed to reduce clutter and add to that feeling of elegant luxury. Frascella calls it part of an ambience that is calming and honest. This goes even further if you go for the top-spec SV models, which are available in two styles: Serentity, or the slightly more menacing Intrepid. These have the option of the Signature Suite, which features two rear business class seats as well as a full-length centre console that culminates in a fridge in the space between the seats. Also in that console is a table that rises up silently at the press of a button, or an icon on the tablet between the seats.
Talking of seats, the new Range Rover is the first to accommodate up to seven people, providing you go for the long-wheelbase version. There's also the option of tailgate 'event seats', which allow two people to sit on the rear deck when folded down and watch the world go by while enjoying a glass of bubbly.
Capable and electrified
It's a Range Rover so it's supposed to climb every mountain, wade through rivers and cross deserts. Granted, most owners are going to do little more than cross the school field or drive along a woodland track to a car park to unload their mountain bikes, but still, it has to be able to do what a Range Rover should do. It has 295mm of ground clearance, the air suspension can be raised by up to 145mm and it has a wading depth of 900mm. It also gets the Terrain Response 2 off-road driving mode system from the current Defender and a 48-volt electric anti-roll system to keep things as level as possible while on- or off-road.
Talking volts, the new Range Rover will be available with petrol or diesel engines as well as a petrol plug-in hybrid setup. In electric-only mode it can travel up to 100km and reach speeds as high as 140km/h. If you'd rather wait for the full battery-electric version, it will launch in 2024.
If you still want your Range Rover with a growling V8 then there's big news here too because the supercharged 5.0-litre we are used to has gone, replaced by a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 from BMW.
2022 launch
Detailed Irish pricing for the new Range Rover has yet to be released, but first examples are expected to arrive in the country in the first few months of 2022.