Electric Land Rover Defender Rumoured to Launch in 2025
Under Land Rover’s EV plans announced in February 2021, a first all-electric model will arrive in 2024 (a variant of the new Range Rover) and five more will follow by 2026. Of course, not all of them will be sold in all markets.
Will the rugged Defender be among them? Most likely.
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In fact, according to British website Auto Express (which identified no sources, just to be clear), the addition of an EV model will be part of the Defender’s mid-cycle update, due around 2025.
Land Rover will apparently use the new flexible Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) that underpins the latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport and is compatible with both hybrid and full-EV applications. We also know that a pure Electric Modular Architecture (EMA) will be used at some point to build all-new dedicated EVs.
Regarding the battery, the automaker has previously hinted at a capacity of 100 kWh and a range of up to 480 km, but it remains to be seen whether these numbers apply to the future Defender EV and its possible configurations (90, 110 and 130).
As for styling and interior layout, we shouldn’t expect major changes from conventionally powered Defenders.
If the rumour is true and we do get an electric Defender sometime in 2025 (probably as a 2026 model), Land Rover will go head-to-head with the Rivian R1S and GMC Hummer EV SUV, not to mention the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQG and possibly the electric SUV from Volkswagen’s new Scout brand.
It is anticipated that around 60 percent of Land Rovers sold globally will be equipped with zero-emission powertrains by the end of this decade.