New Range Rover Sport Electric: EV450 version could drop prices under £100k
Range Rover's entry-level EV450 version of the Sport Electric could bring the luxury EV below the £100k mark, but will offer little extra range over the more powerful models
The Range Rover Sport has embraced electric power. The new electric SUV is good for a 374-mile range, but with performance to rival the flagship V8 models.
The EV550 variant is on sale now from just under £110,000, with deliveries starting in early 2027. Jaguar Land Rover says that the EV450 model that has already been announced for international markets ‘may’ come to the UK, and prices have already appeared on a leading car data platform. This version would lower the entry point for Range Rover Sport Electric ownership below £100,000, but the EV450’s reduction in power brings minimal increase in range.
You wait years for an electric Rangie, then two arrive at once: the zero emissions Range Rover Electric flagship is launching almost simultaneously with the Sport. They share the same hardware – an 800-volt battery with 118.5kWh of usable energy, twin Electric Drive Units (EDUs), and an advanced thermal management system – but the Sport adopts more aggressive tuning for its air suspension and torque delivery to deliver a distinct character.
“Range Rover Sport should be our most dynamic, sporty [SUV],” said the brand’s global managing director Martin Limpert. “We are moving it further apart from Range Rover Electric in dynamics, acoustics and feel.”
Powertrains and performance
The Range Rover Sport EV550 Electric’s torque wave peaks at 850Nm, which is 100Nm more than the 4.4-litre V8 SV edition musters. The SUV is also stiffer and has a lower centre of gravity, thanks to the mighty battery between the wheels.
EDUs on the front and rear axle combine for all-wheel drive and up to 550PS in Dynamic mode, identified by the EV550 model name. That equates to 542bhp, reduced to 493bhp in Comfort mode and 276bhp when Eco is nursing you to the next charger. The lesser EV450 model offers 450PS, which is 444bhp, with exactly the same 850Nm of torque.
Programme chief Simon Fairbrother said the team tuned the motors’ responses “to deliver that critical Range Rover Sport feeling”, with Intelligent Driveline Dynamics software managing the torque front-to-rear and across each axle for optimal acceleration and grip. JLR describes the EV550’s all-wheel-drive system as ‘virtual’, because it has no transfer case and locking differential.
Mash the throttle to blast from 0 -62mph in the EV550 and it’ll do so in 4.5 seconds; that’s seven-tenths of a second slower than the SV. Blame the electric car’s 285kg weight penalty and 84bhp power deficit compared with the V8 petrol. But in the more important real-world benchmark – in-gear acceleration from 50-75mph – the EV is “more than comparable with the V8 going for gaps to pass slower vehicles”, according to Fairbrother.
In the EV450, which shares the same battery and motors, 0-62mph drops to 5.4 seconds, while both models have a 124mph top speed.
Chassis and driving dynamics
And the chassis is overhauled, to deliver its superhero-SUV character. Both big Range Rovers share the MLA architecture, which is 61 per cent more torsionally rigid with the EV battery bolted between the wheels. The Sport’s side pillars and roof design further enhance stiffness, making for a strong structure to boost refinement and dynamic precision.
The Sport Electric’s centre of gravity drops by 73mm: engineers claim it feels more planted and controlled, an impression confirmed by our prototype drive. A maximum-attack chassis – peppered with dynamic upgrades – also helps dramatically. “With the redistribution of weight, you can really dial up the dynamics to grow the gap between Range Rover and Range Rover Sport,” Fairbrother explained.
Dual-chamber air suspension and twin-valve active Bilstein dampers are shared with the Range Rover Electric, but the Sport also gets electro-hydraulic Active Roll Control (e-ARC). This can apply up to 1,400Nm of torque to each axle to stop body sway. All told, the Adaptive Dynamics 2 hardware and software can quell roll or pitching under braking or acceleration in the blink of an eye.
Pull the gear selector back and the EV engages one-pedal mode. The engineers have tuned this for on-road dynamism and off-road response. The accelerator has this lovely biddable precision underfoot, then really comes into its own during off-road manoeuvres without the need to jump between throttle and brakes as in a combustion car.
Lift off and the Sport slows in a smooth, linear manner, with fast-switching silicon carbide inverters harvesting regenerative braking energy as it decelerates. This unlocks a virtuous circle, enabling the engineers to fit smaller friction brakes than the V8’s, which are used less frequently, prolonging their life. “There’s also an unsprung mass benefit which helps the steering and ride,” said vehicle dynamics manager Ross Restell. The discs require a special FNC nitrogen coating to prevent them rusting; a better solution than subtly squeezing the friction brakes, which would impact range.
To sharpen the EV550’s handling, all-wheel steering is standard, with the rear rubber turned by up to 7.3˚ to pivot the SUV into corners. That’s amplified by torque vectoring, where the brakes slow the inside wheel to heighten turn-in.
All that spec looks very dynamic, but does it actually sound dynamic? “Sound design was an important challenge: how you perceive sporty, that character, comes from sound,” global project manager Rachel Hogg told us.
While the Range Rover Electric’s tones were played on piano, the Sport sound designer Alex Vine opted for a low frequency bassline, then added notes to make it more aggressive. “We tried to relate the sound to mechanical function. I took the engineers out in the car and they thought it sounded like a supercharger,” he explained.
The EV550 might sound different but it doesn’t look it: aside from a blanked off grille up front, new aerodynamic alloy wheel designs and an optimised rear diffuser without the need for exhaust pipes, the EV appears stock Range Rover Sport.
Range and charging
Under the skin is a double-stacked battery with clever thermal management to deliver 333 miles of real-world range in the EV550, a figure Range Rover quotes alongside the 374-mile WLTP range enhanced by its gentle testing programme. The EV450 is only slightly better in terms of range, managing 377 miles on the official tests.
On a 350kW charger, the battery can restore 136 miles in 10 minutes; charging from 10-80 per cent takes 22 minutes.
So far, the EV550 line-up confirmed for the UK gets underway with the £109k Dynamic SE, with the Autobiography costing £122,780 and the First Edition £126,290. A flagship SV Ultimate edition will follow, but prices have yet to be confirmed. If it arrives, the lesser EV450 variant will be priced at just over £99,000 in Dynamic SE trim or £112,000 as an Autobiography.
JLR has sold a million Range Rover Sports over the past 20 years; with the electric version targeting buyers previously perturbed by its excessive consumption, the performance SUV’s audience and sales can now go above and beyond.
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