The Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque will switch to the brand’s new ‘native electric’ architecture in their next generation, and will be offered with hybrid and full-electric powertrains only.

• Land Rover will only use hybrid and electrified powertrains from 2026 onwards
• JLR is aiming for all global sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2036
• The first models to be based on the EMA platform will be the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque

Land Rover: electrification drive

As part of Jaguar Land Rover’s new Reimagine business plan, the British brand will launch six battery-electric variants within the next five years, and will use only electrified powertrains from 2026 onwards – this includes mild-hybrid, strong hybrid and all-electric systems. By 2030, Jaguar Land Rover aiming to achieve 60 percent of its global sales from fully electric vehicles, 10 percent from plug-in hybrids and 30 percent via mild or standard hybrids. It is aiming for all global sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2036.

Land Rover: new platforms for future propulsion methods

All future Land Rover models will switch to one of two new platforms: the mixed-powertrain Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) and the ‘Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) native’ Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA). In an investor presentation, the company revealed some early technical details of those platforms, and which cars will be built on them.

Land Rover: Electrified Modular Architecture platform

The EMA platform will be introduced from 2024, and the brand has confirmed it will be used for the next-generation Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport models. That means future versions of those models won’t be offered in pure combustion or mild-hybrid forms.

While the EMA platform is designed for electric cars, it can be fitted with hybrid and plug-in hybrid systems, which will use “electrified compact ICE propulsion systems with lean burn technology”. 

Land Rover said that the EMA platform will be engineered around the underfloor EV battery, with a ‘simple’ body structure and a flat floor to maximise space. The company said that JLR-designed electric drive units (EDUs) will be centred on 800V technology and offer an efficiency of around 6.5-7.25km per kWh for EVs based on the EMA platform. It also claimed its EDUs will be the “most torque dense” in class.

Land Rover: Modular Longitudinal Architecture platform

The MLA platform is due to be introduced in 2022 or 2023, and will be used for models including the next-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. Described as a ‘flexible’ architecture, it will accept mild-hybrid, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains.

Notably, the investor presentation did not specify which platform the next-generation Velar would use, although it would probably be the EMA architecture. 

Along with introducing EV variants of existing models, Land Rover will launch an electric-only model within the next five years – and it is possible that the future Velar could be EV-only to ensure greater differentiation from the Evoque.

Land Rover: other models and electrification plans for India

JLR’s investor presentation also hinted again at the planned expansion of the Defender model into a full ‘model family’, with a graphic showing Land Rover’s future model line hinting at two new variants. They could include the Defender pick-up, which the company has hinted at previously.

Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover is all set to introduce its electrified models to India, starting with the launch of the Jaguar I-Pace. The all-electric SUV is set to be launched on March 23, 2021, with a facelift for the XF – which will be offered with two petrol engines and one mild-hybrid diesel engine – also expected to arrive by mid-2021. Meanwhile, Land Rover has begun accepting bookings for the Defender PHEV in India, the plug-in hybrid version of its Defender SUV launched last year.