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2018 Range Rover Sport PHEV spy pics

The facelifted Range Rover Sport looks set to be the first vehicle to come with Jaguar Land Rover’s new hybrid powertrain

2018 Range Rover Sport PHEV
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A FACELIFTED Range Rover Sport spotted testing this month is reportedly a plug-in hybrid model featuring Jaguar Land Rover’s new petrol-electric powertrain.

Featuring high-voltage warning stickers signifying it’s an electric vehicle, the 2018 Range Rover test mule has a new front bumper and grille which, according to British motoring website Autocar, houses the charging port.

The hybrid unit is believed to include a 220kW in-line four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine and a lithium-ion battery stored under the boot floor and is the same system expected to be used in hybrid versions of the Jaguar F-Pace, XF and XJ.

2018 Range Rover sport side
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In the Range Rover it’s expected to have an electric only range of up to 50kms.

The all-new powertrain is a significant improvement over the current Range Rover Autobiography SDV6 Hybrid’s diesel-electric system available since 2013, which has an all-electric range of 1.6Kms limited to 48km/h.

All other engines are expected to carry across to the updated model including the 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6, 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel V6, 4.4-litre twin-turbo diesel V8 and the less-than frugal 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8.

2018 Range Rover sport rear
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The camouflaged prototype features a couple of other slight differences to the current model including tweaked head and tail lights and a new wheel design.

Driver assist cameras and sensors also seem to take up more space at the top of windscreen which could mean more advanced autonomous driving tech.

2018 Range Rover sport front
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The interior was also disguised, which suggests the facelift will include more than just an exterior nip and tuck.

Other plug-in luxury SUVs include the BMW xDrive40e, Mercedes-Benz GLE550e, Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, Volvo XC90 T8 and the upcoming Bentley Bentayga PHEV and Lamborghini Urus.

David Bonnici
Contributor

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