Test drive 2024 Range Rover Evoque: Queen of the Jungle (Urban).

As we mentioned briefly, this is the children’s column. The smallest model that our great friends from Land/Range Rover sell. Does that make it less than Range? Little Brit? Limited power or style? Nope. On the contrary, in fact. What a look this city tank has, especially in this beautiful color. Range Rover can create a very elegant design with very few shapes. A unique combination of looks that belong in a country house but can also shine in the container port of Rotterdam.

The Range Rover Evoque’s list of competitors is extensive, from the Porsche Macan to the Volkswagen Tiguan. We can classify all those cars as worthy competition. But, we will not talk about that. However, we will talk about the car’s practical dimensions and recognizable style features.

We drove the Range Rover Evoque 1.5 P300e PHEV AWD Dynamic HSE. A horrible mouth full of all kinds of things. The bottom line is that it was the second most expensive version. The one-and-a-half-liter three-liter cylinder, together with the electric motor, produces a total power of 309 hp. That’s a lot. It stops at 213 km/h and you reach 100 in 6.4 seconds at Witte de With.

How does he drive?

Let me explain that in detail. Simple, elegant and comfortable. The curves of this rounded roadster slide out gracefully as you merrily stroll towards the passenger door. Inside it is boring, but it is very clean and simple. It is elegant in the same way as a Swedish-style living room. There is little, but what is there is of high quality and good design.

The car is quite a pleasure to drive. Driving is done entirely by electricity (of course with a charged battery). It can also maintain electrical operation for a very long time. Fast acceleration and high speed travel using only the electric motor works flawlessly. Switching from one car to another is easy and also good on petrol. However, the three-cylinder sound is less defined. However, it remains the Defender’s second cousin of course.

Driving itself in the Range Rover Evoque is surprisingly easy and self-explanatory. The steering is incredibly sharp and the suspension has a sporty edge for a smooth driving experience. Braking, acceleration and the whole rambam is very quiet and smooth, as we expected. Looking around you is made difficult by the fact that the Range Rover Evoque is built like a submarine and a tank. But, cameras, assistance systems and sensors are your best friends.

Strong

You won’t find anything in the interior of the Range Rover Evoque. No buttons, no unnecessary lines, nothing. You will find a screen, pontifically in the middle. Oh dear. That’s what I thought when I saw that. From experience, not every screen in the automotive world works very well, surprisingly often not only in cars with screens. But, this screen is really good. It responds to every touch, is accurate and, above all, very well thought out. Later I spoke to a nice JLR employee, he told me that the philosophy of Range Rover is that you should be able to do all the important functions within three clicks. That’s still more than one act, but hey, that’s the bottom line.

It got attention for a while, but now it’s happening again. The hybrid system of the Range Rover Evoque is very good. We always praise BMW for their PHEV intentions, but this one is just as good, in our opinion. It can drive fast and accelerate well on electricity, works well with petrol engine and lasts for a long time. We think it’s great. If you are careful with it, you can easily reach 1 in 33. For normal driving behavior, between 1 in 20 and 1 in 25 is not an exception. Very good, very good even. Especially for someone who is all around elegant.

Finally, we would like to draw more attention to a special part of the car. Namely: the back door. As with most modern cars, the entry to the cargo area is electrically operated. But, this often does not work well. They are slow or noisy or unresponsive. None, thought the Range Rover Evoque. The button on the remote control works well, opens and closes quickly and does not make noise. It’s very refreshing in a world of servo noises and beeps coming from an airplane hangar. Congratulations.

Weak points

Although we are dealing with Range, it is the smallest. The youngest has also made the artistic choice of adopting a semi-sloped roofline. This means that the back space, especially in the regions of everyone’s heads, is not always enough. Sitting with your head slightly at an angle is also good from time to time. However, you can also put children in the back, not tall.

Although the screen on the Range Rover Evoque works very well, it gets very hot. Of course, this may be because he has to work very hard to work perfectly. Not so hot, actually. But, apparently. Is that what it should be? We don’t know that. We also saw in Beki. We’ll ask when we pick up the Velar. You will hear from us.

We usually don’t want to complain about engine noise. We do that sometimes, like now. When you’re driving in total calm in an electric Evoque and you have to catch up to someone, it’s a real shame that it suddenly looks like someone’s throwing a drawer. Okay, not so bad. But the characteristic three-cylinder burbling sound is not the sound you expect when driving a luxury English city tank. It’s a small thing and maybe it’s just us, but something is bothering us.

Equipment

The standard HSE equipment level of the Range Rover Evoque is very extensive. That makes sense, as it’s the second most expensive version of the Evoque. Standard 20-inch rims, black Windsor leather furniture, Pixels headlights and a large panoramic roof. Luxury huh? A beautiful color that Range Rover Corinthian bronze (we call it metallic Rosé) costs 989 euros. The Black Exterior Package, which gives you black exterior details, costs €1,107, the black roof costs €811 and the black glass costs €490. So many choices.

Conclusion of the Range Rover Evoque test drive

The Range Rover Evoque is a very nice and versatile small SUV for people who crave luxury and want to join the Range Rover brand. The interior is elegant and simple with a large screen that works well. The power steering is nice and smooth and the hybrid system is very good. While the sliding roofline isn’t great for rear room, the screen gets a little warm and the three-cylinder barely sounds good in a Range Rover, we’re happy to overlook that. He’s just so cute.

Range Rover Evoque in the basic version is is available from 64,775 euros (in Belgium from 48,730 euros). Our test model is almost the most expensive version in the range, the HSE. With all options included, we arrive at approximately EUR 82,530.

All photos in this article were taken by Without Berger .