Range Rover, the British brand synonymous with high-performing, luxury, off-road 4x4s has revealed what the marque describes as the ‘most car-like’ model in its 56-year history.
The newly unveiled Range Rover GT is pitched as a luxury 4×4 grand tourer coupé EV and represents a significant departure for the brand. It’s described as ‘a fifth member of the family’, alongside Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Range Rover Evoque.
However, the first glimpses of the new GT model and the attendant announcement leave many questions unanswered.
[See also: Why is the first electric Ferrari dividing the brand’s clientele?]
Related
Teaser images of the Range Rover GT, wrapped in a camouflage design that obscures some design features, give little away. In press materials the car is described as having Range Rover’s signature ‘breadth of capability’, but the lower profile speaks more to its claimed ‘peerless long-haul comfort’ rather than the off-road credentials for which the brand is traditionally known.
The GT is the first all-electric Range Rover from the new EMA platform, and is to be manufactured in Halewood, Merseyside, England, alongside ICE and hybrid models.
Initially available as a battery electric vehicle (BEV), Range Rover appears to be keeping its options open – perhaps because of those frights some luxury car makers have had with customer resistance to pure EV – with ‘flexibility planned to be added to future vehicles through a full Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) option later in the lifecycle.’
[See also: Gstaad Guy x Bentley: ‘If you know, you know’]
Content from our partners
Meanwhile, the ‘contemporary design’ interior is described as being ‘crafted for calm, with hidden technologies, sophisticated, tactile new materials and class-leading second-row legroom’, and ‘shaped by the same reductive principles that define its exterior proportions: purity, precision and quiet modernity.’
A new single screen design is paired with a driver display in place of a traditional instrument cluster, while a concealed air vent runs across the width of the cabin.
Every interior design element has been considered ‘to create a sanctuary of calm’, says Range Rover, with a focus on ‘reduced visual and acoustic noise and natural conversational access to more vehicle functions than ever before.’
[See also: Does Lamborghini’s newest supercar live up to its forebears?]
Martin Limpert, managing director at Range Rover, said: ‘We have spent the last few years working obsessively on the fundamentals of the GT formula, reinterpreted in a sophisticated, uniquely Range Rover way.
‘The result is the most car-like, yet unmistakably capable, Range Rover ever created, now possible on our electrified EMA architecture – complementing our existing powertrain portfolio to deliver a complete set of options for every customer need. Its blend of effortless EV performance, first-class long-haul refinement and all-terrain capability is pure Range Rover; while its calming interior previews our vision of a modern grand tourer.’
The GT sees Range Rover make a foray into territory previously largely held by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
[See also: ‘A big name with a big back story’: how Richard Mille built a €200,000 bike]
It is 18 years since BMW introduced the X6, creating a new ‘sports activity vehicle’ niche, described at the time by some as ‘a fastback on stilts’. It was quickly followed by Mercedes’ version, and more recently Porsche’s Cayenne Coupé.
Pricing of the Range Rover GT is not yet known, but the car seems set to be positioned far higher up the luxury ladder than the likes of the X6; current top-end Range Rovers from its SVO division can be priced at over £200,000 and are seen as being challengers to the likes of Bentley’s Bentayga. It seems likely Range Rover will have lofty ambitions for its GT EV.
But it remains to be seen whether luxury car buyers – who have forced the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bentley to at least re-assess or even cancel luxury EV plans – will buy into the Range Rover GT. The brand will be conscious that its JLR stablemate, Jaguar, embarked on an EV-only re-brand and radical design language turn that had a bumpy ride.
[See also: CEO of ultra high-tech car company Lukas Czinger on 3D printing, AI and Enlightenment]
The only luxury EV to prove a resounding success with customers so far appears to be Rolls-Royce’s Spectre. Range Rover will hope that its new release is soon being spoken of in the same breath.
Camouflaged-wrapped prototypes are currently undergoing final on-road testing, with Range Rover saying there’ll be more detail revealed later in 2026.
