Land Rover Range Rover P440e AWD PHEV HSE (2023) Review

Walk into a hostel somewhere abroad and look for the crown in the crowd that stands out a little above the rest. Chances are this is someone who puts the word ‘hey’ after a sentence in English too often. If so, sooner or later you will hear this person explaining to other travelers that there is a Dutch word that has no translation. ‘You know ‘good’, don’t you?’

Our language is certainly not the only one in the world that has a word that is difficult to translate. Although there probably isn’t a complete Wikipedia page for those other languages with details on this (bet that Dutch is behind it?). For example, in English they have the word to shake. Google Translate would translate the word as swing, float or weave.

England is king in this

If you are related to cars, it can be a combination of the three. If you were to ask us, it is to shake it moves you easily and with complete silence and comfort in the car. But above all it is a feeling, a certain peace and calmness that comes over you, which can only be found if the sum of its parts is equal.

Few countries have mastered this better than the UK – and in particular the Rolls-Royce and Land Rover brands. An old VW Polo with worn out fluids and big tires rocks well, but that’s not the point to shake. The EV is whisper quiet, but you won’t achieve the desired effect here either. And if we are very honest, even all luxury products fail.

Power Range Rover P440e

The Bentayga, for example, has a very high suspension and still wants to be very sporty. The new Range Rover does not feel this urge to prove. After all, that’s what the Range Rover Sport and its more athletic sibling Jaguar are aimed at. No, the Range’s steering wheel responds very quietly to your input, the seats are big and comfortable and the air suspension is silky smooth.

Earlier we already drove the V8 version of the new Range Rover and today it’s the turn of the plug-in hybrid. We will immediately mention the most important specifications: it has 440 hp and 620 Nm. You understand that we are TopGear like real driving, sports chassis, V8 engines and other things that journalists at big magazines put away as compensating for a small attachment.

Range Rover Maintenance

But the Range Rover P440e makes you forget the definition of urgency; All the need for sporty driving just evaporates. If everyone in the Netherlands drove a P440e, the CJIB would go bankrupt due to the lack of speeding fines. A random post only because the on-board computer doesn’t show the correct top speed (which sometimes happens), could still generate revenue.

Apart from the chassis, what makes the Range Rover stand out is the updated powertrain. Given the spirit of the times, you’d be afraid of a short-breathing three-cylinder, but Land Rover wisely decided to replace the four-cylinder from the original plug-in with an in-line six. It doesn’t matter that a bigger engine adds a little extra power.

What is that, driving a hybrid in such an animal?

The thing is, there are few engines that have better mileage than the inline six. The gasoline engine starts almost without vibration and runs easily through revving – and even with a pleasant roar. You should listen carefully for it, because the sound insulation (with some help from the noise reduction through the speakers) is very good.

The best addition to the electric motor is no motor, but after that the best option is definitely six-in-line. If we can criticize anything, it is that the electric train sometimes pays a little money when switching to gasoline. What also helps is that Land Rover increased the battery capacity of the latest versions of the Range Rover plug-in.

Taking it simply, you should be able to drive fully electric for a total of 100 km. In English you’d have a good joke about here various can do. Oh, we are ‘happy’. And you can even charge fast with this PHEV, available on the highway. Somewhere you can find such a large battery in a design to cover the loss of raw materials, but in practice it means that even lazy chargers will cover many kilometers with electricity.

The weight of the SUV

Unfortunately, the new Range Rover P440e weighs 2,770 kg thanks to the six-in-line and larger battery. The maximum weight allowed is 3,450 kg, which can only (which cannot be a coincidence) be driven with a driving license B. Range Rover P440e is not only heavy because of power, it is very big.

The air suspension goes through its hooves a bit so you can get in easily, but even then the SUV’s ‘comfortable top entry’ is actually pretty high. Set the air suspension to off-road mode and the Range Rover towers nearly two meters into the air. Fortunately, the rear wheels are steered, so parking isn’t a complete disaster, although we recommend that you first build a driveway to your front garden before buying a Range.

Having your drive way also saves frustration if (because of its length) you put it as deep as possible in the parking space, only to find out that the charging cable is still behind, but you can’t reach it because the flap can. it will not open again. First world problems we haven’t had before.

The price of this Range Rover

Excuse me if we sound too academic, but we have to say that the P440e with a starting price of 142,951 euros (140,589 euros in Belgium) is a bargain. The entry-level diesel costs 25,000 euros more and the cheapest V8 is at least 212,743 euros.

And with this P440e (we drove the HSE version) you are not inferior to cars that should cost a quarter of a million euros in terms of luxury and comfort. So we can give our favorite car advice: buy the cheapest train, enjoy every workday and put your savings on a sports car at the weekend. You don’t want a car that can do two things at once. You want two cars that are each very good at one thing.

No petrol engine at all?

Are you a disciplined backpacker and don’t understand why on earth you have to carry a dirty petrol engine if you want to drive a Land Rover? Good news! In 2024 there will be a fully electric version of the new Range Rover. This version has been on the brand’s wish list for a long time, so that they can release it on the same platform.

Due to the quiet and smooth nature of electric motors, this may be the best version. And when you’re off-road, you can do fun tricks with the individually controllable wheels. Dimensions are not yet known, but we can imagine that LaRo customers will not get out of bed with a distance of less than 500 km.

You can safely expect that a quick release will occur and that other model lines will also receive a plug-in release. What about the Range Rover Sport e-SVR?