Range Rover’s first electric SUV has 48,000 pre-orders

Range Rover, the brand made famous for its British-styled, luxury, all-terrain SUVs, is keen to show it means business about going electric.

And, according to the most recent investor presentation by parent company JLR, that’s all because Range Rover fans are showing the way. Not only was demand for Range Rover’s hybrid vehicles up 29% in the last six months, but customers are buying hybrids “as a stepping stone towards battery electric vehicles,” the company says.

As proof, JLR says there are already 48,000 pre-orders for the Range Rover Electric, the brand’s first fully electric vehicle to be launched before year-end.

While the new SUV’s 8000-volt architecture promises fast charging, it’s clear Range Rover still wants it to keep up with the brand’s all-terrain tradition. The luxury SUV also promises to withstand wading through up to 33.4 inches of deep water.

Next year, JLR is also expected to launch an electric Range Rover Sport, sharing the same platform as the Range Rover Electric and existing hybrid vehicles. But it has also launched a new platform that will facilitate further inroads into electrification. The automaker has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2039.

“JLR is able to offer a range of fuel options to meet the energy transition dynamics of each market, and we will offer a pure electric variant of each nameplate by 2030 with the aim of reaching carbon net zero by 2039,” Mark Camilleri, director of electrification services at JLR, said in a statement.

Further marking JLR’s commitment to electric, the automaker said another smaller Range Rover SUV will be coming out of its new EMA platform by 2026.

That new SUV is expected to be the electric replacement of the Range Rover Velar, according to AutoCar. It will also be the first EV to feature “hands-free, eyes on” technology.