On (and off) road in new electric Range Rover

We take a ride in the most important new Range Rover in a generation, ahead of it going on sale later in the year. But will the brand's first all-electric model be good enough to wear the badge?

- Thomas Geiger

LAND Rover is known for its exhaustive, almost obsessive levels of development, so it comes as no surprise to see that it isn't taking any shortcuts with the new all-electric Range Rover. Due to be revealed in full later this year, and on sale soon after, it has the weight of being the brand's first EV on its shoulders - and that's why the team responsible are leaving no stone unturned in its journey to production.

We joined Thomas Müller, Head of Development at Jaguar Land Rover, and chassis guru Matt Becker, who is responsible for the driving dynamics, in Arjeplog, Sweden, for one of the last sessions of cold-weather testing ahead of further assessment in the deserts of the Middle East.

We've known about the electric Range Rover for some time and it's a fascinating prospect. Even though there are many electric cars on the market, few are luxury SUVs. Not many manufacturers have electrified a true off-roader, either, so Müller and Becker didn't want any compromises.

“First and foremost, this is a real Range Rover and only secondarily is it an electric car,” said Müller. On the road, this is easy to achieve, because electric drive is perfectly suited to the luxury class, with its effortless power delivery and almost eerie silence.

The heavy battery in the floor also plays into the developers’ hands, because it lowers the car’s centre of gravity while increasing its rigidity, ensuring even more composure.

In a way that only the Rolls-Royce Spectre can emulate, the Range Rover Electric becomes the ultimate quiet limousine. As a passenger, we feel as though we're nestled in clouds and wrapped in cotton wool as we're beamed through the Swedish winter landscape on a leather throne.