Range Rover GT: The secrets behind the brand’s strangest car ever

[GAYDON, ENGLAND] Even under heavy camouflage, the Range Rover GT looks like nothing the iconic brand has ever done before. With four doors, a low stance and a roofline that tapers towards the boot, the prototype is as far removed from Range Rover tradition as fishball noodles would be in a fish and chips shop.

But after 50 years of building nothing but elegant sport utility vehicles (SUVs) for the wealthy, Range Rover is putting the final touches on its first sedan, a pure electric car that will be the first to sit on the brand’s clean-sheet Electric Modular Architecture (EMA).

Just under five metres long and standing just 1.56 metres tall, the GT is the lowest Range Rover ever, by far. Despite that, its makers say it will be capable of the mud slinging and rock crawling that give the brand its impeccable reputation for off-roading prowess. Global Product Manager Luca Bianchi told The Business Times that it “can do anything a Range Rover can do”.

That’s down to a dual-motor, all-wheel drive set-up, plus air suspension that will let it tiptoe over rocky terrain. The GT will also have rear-wheel steering to make it both more agile around tight bends and more stable at high speed.

The engineering is reassuringly fussy. The GT’s frameless doors (another first for the brand) are triple-sealed against wind noise. Prototypes have been run through temperatures from -40 deg Celsius to 50 deg C to test for interior comfort in those conditions as much as powertrain durability.

The engineering team benchmarked it against a variety of cars, including Porsches for driver engagement. Matt Eyes, chief engineer for the EMA platform and programme director for the GT, sums the car up in one word: playful.

Eyes told BT that the new sedan has been five years in the making. Range Rover had actually toyed with the concept earlier, but it wasn’t until EMA came along that it became possible to unlock the proportions that make the car work.

Speaking exclusively to BT, he said that despite its unique shape, the GT’s rear bumper sections and glass area have exactly the same ratio as those on other Range Rovers. “Even without the badge, you just know you’re looking at a Range Rover,” he said.

The same can’t be said for the interior. Wood veneer and leather, the visual shorthand for luxury in Range Rovers before this one, are gone. In their place are translucent plastics, a textile from Danish design house Kvadrat, slender architectural spurs in “moonlight chrome” finish, and a synthetic upholstery made of polyurethane that is half the weight of leather.

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Alex Watkin, chief designer for Range Rover interiors, compares the interior to the inside of a contemporary luxury home.

Rather than a wall of screens, the GT has two high quality OLED screens and a head-up display, with hidden air-con vents and the brand’s biggest ever panoramic glass roof, which turns opaque electrochromically. Eyes admitted that some customers might not like the GT’s minimalist cabin. “They’ll still have the Range Rover to buy,” he said.

A wheelbase longer than three metres leaves plenty of room for a spacious cabin, and the EMA bones leave room to make this the first Range Rover with a frunk. The interior will be offered in five-seat and plusher four-seat configurations.

On performance, range and battery size, Eyes had nothing to say officially because the car is still being homologated by regulators. Range Rover’s own anonymised data from existing cars suggests the GT’s underlying package should cover 98 per cent of customer journeys, which implies a WLTP range north of 600 km.

The GT should emerge fully formed in the public eye around September, around the time Range Rover launches pure electric versions of two existing models, the Range Rover Sport and the Range Rover itself.

“I can’t wait to start seeing them on the roads,” interior design chief Watkin told BT. “But where I’d really love to see one most is on my driveway.”