No EV for the PM: Keir Starmer stuck with V8 Range Rovers as JLR can’t bomb-proof electric model
An electric Range Rover would not offer sufficient blast protection, says JLR
It looks like Keir Starmer won’t be making the most of the government’s new Electric Car Grant as JLR has told the Prime Minister that a theoretical electric variant of the state Range Rover won’t offer sufficient protection against bomb attacks.
In a document sourced by EV newsletter FastCharge, JLR requested that armoured vehicles be excluded from the tough ZEV mandate that requires manufacturers ensure a certain proportion of their UK sales are fully-electric.
The British manufacturer’s reasoning for this is that it “does not see any workable engineering solution to the challenges surrounding an armoured BEV [battery EV], primarily because the required safety levels and blast protection cannot be achieved”.
Why would this be the case? Well, while JLR could in theory equip an electric Range Rover or equivalent with so-called bomb blankets, armour plating and bulletproof glass, all of this would add to the car’s already substantial kerb weight. It’s fair to expect the production version of the Range Rover Electric, when it arrives next year, will weigh-in at over three tonnes even without all of the armoured upgrades.
All of this weight would ultimately affect range and performance, so with this in mind, the PM looks set to continue utilising his 5.0-litre V8-powered fleet of Range Rover Sentinels. These are built by the firm’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit in Solihull and are thought to cost around half a million pounds each.
Interestingly, however, other brands such as BMW with its i7 Protection – an armoured variant of the i7 limousine – are able to offer what’s seen as a sufficient level of protection in an electric car while maintaining performance.
Regardless, the news of JLR’s struggles with armoured cars comes at the same time the brand is scrambling to protect its IT infrastructure following a recent cyber attack. This has halted production at JLR’s UK manufacturing plants, although luckily the firm says “there is no evidence any customer data has been stolen”.
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