Land Rover has finally unveiled the fifth-generation Range Rover luxury SUV. The 2022 Range Rover now comes underpinned by a new platform (MLA-Flex), along with an updated design and a bunch of powertrain options.
The new Range Rover is available in both standard and long-wheelbase forms, with the latter giving the option of seven seats for the first time. It will be available with a range of petrol and diesel engines at launch, with a plug-in petrol hybrid following in about three months’ time.
The 2022 Range Rover can now be had either with a standard 5-seat configuration or the long-wheelbase version with 7-seats. The fifth-gen model is the first Range Rover to offer a third-row of seats. To incorporate the additional seats, the LWB version of the Range Rover is 200 mm longer than the standard car.
The 2022 Range Rover now comes underpinned by a new platform (MLA-Flex), bringing 50 percent more torsional stiffness and 24 percent less structure-borne noise than the underpinnings of the outgoing Range Rover. The structure is made up of 80 percent aluminium but with extensive use of steel in key areas for improved crash protection and sound deadening. Its enhanced stiffness has been achieved even with a full-length, and standard, panoramic sunroof. The structure has also been designed to maximise efficiency: the so-called ‘aero shields’ run the length of the car’s underbody to channel air efficiently towards the rear, and even the rear suspension elements have their own aero-optimised covers that “deliver a controlled separation of the underbody airflow”.
Overall, the MLA structure is slightly heavier than its predecessor but, along with improvements in several crucial areas, it allows the fifth-generation Range Rover to be offered with both internal combustion and electric powertrains.
The Range Rover’s distinctive silhouette remains fundamentally intact. It carries forward the clean and minimalistic look from the older model. The ‘gill’ motifs and grille of the old car have been redesigned, and the pop-out door handles first seen on the Velar give a sleeker look. The new rear-end design features split-folding tailgate continues to operate as before, with the lower portion folding down and the rear screen rising up. The most obvious differentiator is the addition of a sizeable gloss black panel at the rear, incorporating vertical brake lights at the side and indicators in a bar across the top, all of which are invisible when not in use.
The interior of the new Range Rover has been completely revamped too. A new floating 13.1-inch infotainment screen hosts most of the primary controls and functions. Wireless smartphone mirroring and Amazon Alexa speech recognition are included on all models. It also gets a new 13.7-inch high-definition digital instrument cluster and an uprated head-up display. At the back, a pair of 11.4-inch touchscreens and an 8.0-inch touch control panel are provided for passengers.
Powering the 2022 Range Rover is a choice of three engines, all of which are mated to an automatic transmission. The first is a 3.0-litre in-line 6-cylinder turbo-petrol unit paired with a 48V hybrid system, producing 395 BHP and 550 Nm. The SUV also comes with a 3.0-litre V6 diesel unit (for the European market), which produces either 296 BHP or 345 BHP, depending on the variant.
The range-topping model is offered with a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine borrowed from BMW, producing 523 BHP and 749 Nm.
Land Rover also confirmed that they will introduce a PHEV version of the 2022 Range Rover in 2023, while a fully electric version is scheduled to arrive in 2024.
