Land Rover Monthly December 2017

“I can’t imagine driving a Defender without petrol or diesel fumes” By 2020 all the various models produced by Jaguar Land Rover will have an electric option. The new Defender should be out by then. That means you and I will be able to purchase an electric Defender. I can’t imagine driving a Defender without petrol or diesel fumes but when I did drive a prototype electric Defender in Wales about two years ago, it did impress me. Torque on tap. Just push the accelerator. Talking of the mobility revolution, we sent Gary Pusey to JLR’s recent Tech Fest – read all about it on page 80. While I love the lack of modern day comforts and technology in my 1998 Defender, JLR have had to fully embrace the way…

The Invictus Games kicked off September 23 in Toronto – the brainchild of Prince Harry after a visit to America’s Warrior Games in 2013, this adaptive sport competition helps service personnel as well as veterans in overcoming their physical or mental health illness or injury. This year, the games hosted 550 service members from 17 countries, competing in 12 different sports ranging from cycling to wheelchair rugby and athletics. As the presenting partner of the Invictus Games for the third time, there is also a Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge, which has become the traditional curtain raiser to the Games. There are two different courses: the Jaguar course, which is all about speed and precision and the Land Rover course, featuring a number of different obstacles. Points are awarded for…

LANDY ON YOUTUBE FANS OF the beautifully hand illustrated Landy books will be pleased to find out that the author Veronica Lamond has released a YouTube version of her children’s Land Rover story, just point your browser at youtube.com/ watch?v=YSbuw9da4vg. Veronica, who helped produce the film in Cornwall, said: “I hope everyone has as much fun watching this animation as I had making it – seeing Landy come alive was quite special!” The YouTube film will be a forerunner to the new Landy & Friends merchandising initiative, which will be up and running early 2018, and includes a great range of products for kids from rucksacks to dinner sets. For updates visit her website veronicalamond.com. SURF’S UP FOR ALMOST 70 years Land Rover has been transporting people across the world’s…

DESPITE THE fact that the Discovery Td6 has a maximum certified towing capacity of 3500kg on public roads it has successfully towed a 110 tonne road train along a closed section of Australia’s Lasseter Highway, hitting 44km/h along its 16 km route. Pulling a 100 metre road train in the remote Northern Territory is no mean feat, and Land Rover had to obtain special permission to pull seven trailers and the 12 tonne tractor unit (retained to operate the hydraulic brakes fitted to the trailers) because only road trains of up to four trailers are permitted in the vast Outback regions. John Bilato, Managing Director of haulage specialist G&S Transport, took the wheel for the epic pull. “When Land Rover first got in touch I didn’t think the vehicle would…

NO DOUBT you will have read about Ineos Automotive, the chemicals company, who is planning to build a successor to the Defender. Well now, that vision is a step closer with the launch of a digital campaign to generate interest and invite would-be owners to get involved in the car, which goes by the codename ‘Ineos Grenadier’. Over the past two years, the automotive outfit of Ineos, founded by Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe in 2015, has been assembling a small team of designers, engineers and business experts. The website projektgrenadier.com will publish regular updates on the car’s development and encourage the public to share their views so that the company can make the best 4x4 possible. JLR, who may launch the all-new Defender next year will no doubt be monitoring…

WITH JLR’s announcement earlier this year that electric variants of every model would be available by 2020, it was obvious we weren’t going to have to wait long for the first one. And here it is: the Range Rover Sport P400e. The new model is a hybrid, combining a 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol engine with an 85kW electric motor. The 404 hp (297kW) total available power output available to the permanent four-wheel drive system delivers 0-60 mph in only 6.3 seconds and a maximum speed of 137 mph. With an impressive 640 Nm of combined torque, JLR says the new powertrain mixes dynamic and sustainable performance with traditional Land Rover capability, comfort and refinement. The Sport P400e emits only 64g/km emissions and achieves an impressive 101 mpg through the electrified powertrain…