SCOOP ALL-NEW MID-SIZE RANGE ROVER EV FOR 2026

Mid-size SUV ends four-year wait for a new JLR model and heralds a fresh design language and architecture for the premium British manufacturer. It's due to be revealed early next year

- Phil McNamara [e-mail]

A GROUNDBREAKING, midsize electric Range Rover will go public in early 2026, bringing JLR's four-year new model drought to a spectacular end. This Range Rover EV - not to be confused with the electrified version of the flagship Range Rover, which comes to market at a similar time will introduce a fresh design language and tech plumbed into a brand-new vehicle architecture known as EMA (Electric Modular Architecture).

Think of it as a pure-electric 4x4 to sit alongside the current Velar, which will continue in production at JLR's Solihull plant. But the EMA-based car will not be called Velar, underlining its differentiation, and it'll be built on a revamped, hi-tech production line at the Halewood factory on Merseyside.

Nonetheless, this electric Rangie set to rival the new BMW iX3 and Audi Q6 e-tron - will be similar in size to the existing Velar. JLR has pumped £250million into Halewood to prep it for EMA, adding a new electric bodyassembly building and ensuring the circa 4.8m-long SUV can be trimmed and painted on revised production lines. The company has boosted its paint shop's capacity to deliver more contrasting roof colours, for instance.

The facility will paint a car that introduces a new-generation Range Rover design. Photos of prototype test vehicles (see Page 8) reveal a form that's even sleeker than the Velar's. The relatively low roofline slopes dramatically downwards and the glasshouse is thin relative to the sheet metal, creating a coupé-SUV look. Industry whispers say the design - which ups the ante for Range Rover modernism and minimalism - is quite distinct from the Velar's.