I recently attended the RRS preview event at Rockar in Canary Wharf whilst in London on work, they had a Red P440e SE and a white diesel in the showroom. Had a great chat with a lady from Land Rover - she confirmed that they are expecting to deliver Dealer allocated cars in October (these are the LR pre-configured launch cars) and the order time at the moment is about 30 weeks. I was offered one of these pre-configures launch cars by my dealer in Scotland but wasn’t for me, so I’ve ordered a RRS P440e Autobigraphy. From my brief visit, I found that:

1. Dimensions of the car have enabled a deeper boot, more leg space in the second row and more in the front seats too.
2. The P440e is not limited in space by the battery pack as the P400e today, it had a full size spare wheel in the boot and a deployable electric towbar.
3. Although it is clearer a RRS, the cleanliness of the outside lines and the reductionist approach has made it look much sharper, particularly around the windows.
4. The quality of the interior is a step up over the current model - I have a P400 HST which I love, but this is another step up, the seats seem more comfortable, especially second row with a slightly lower seat base which should improve the c9mfort for the kids on longer journeys.
5. It feels significantly different inside to the new L460 RR, which I did have on order until the price kept going up and have done 2 x 45 mins test drives in! It feels much more sporty than the L460, more enclosed but in a good way.
6. I’ve taken pictures of the 2 new colours - Giola Green and Vareline blue, but as with all JLR colours at the moment, they are difficult to photograph and are dependent on the light at the time.
7. The boot opening is much larger than the current one, but oddly, the door opening release is right at the bottom just above the number plate where the rear camera lens is placed, which I think will mean lots of dirty fingers if you open it without use the keyfob or internal release!






















Overall, I’d say I’m more excited about my RRS order than the L460 I had on order, I think it is a definite step up (admittedly, as is the price too), and you might get your RRS uicker than the order for the RR!

Swiggy,
Many thanks for all your recent info - much appreciated— especially for someone about to order .
Tell mr your opinion of choice regarding P440e .
I am sure I am not alone in deciding between Hybrid and Diesel .
As someone who has always gone Diesel on 4x4 slightly reluctant at present to go Plug / Electric especially when you see currently customers still going diesel .
Would appreciate your valued views .
Many thanks.

Hi Blackbird

Thanks for your response and happy to share my views on the hybrid. I too had Diesel SUVs until my current RRS P400 HST, with a Disco 5, Disco 4, X5 and XC90s with different states of Diesel engine. However, I chose to change this time to the P400 (note, not the PHEV, but the In line 6 Ingenium MHEV) and I would say that the economy I'm getting out of the RRS is similar to the Disco. Over the last 1500 miles, I've averaged 30.5mpg and on one section of a motorway trip, with an average speed of 69mph for 188 miles, I averaged 36.2mpg. So my belief at the moment is that there isn't much difference between the diesels that I did drive against the current generation of petrol engine, albeit, I've not driven the ingenious 3 litre diesel, so this might better this. However, the big positive is I no longer have to worry about adblue, DPF regent etc and the car is mighty quick!

Why is this important? The new RRS uses the same engine, in different guises of tune, for the new PHEV, replacing the older 2 litre in the L494. This was underpowered on longer journeys and I often got better mpg in my 3 litre petrol when compared to my recent boss in his RRS P400e with the 2 litre. But this is the point of the plug in hybrid, it is entirely dependent upon your use case as to whether it works for you. However, with the greater range on the new model (70 miles versus 30 miles in the older version), then that changes the use case for me especially if you can recharge quickly. My wife has a Disco Sport PHEV, which replaced a D240 Disco Sport. She used to average around 38mpg in her Disco sport, commuting to work about 22 miles away and running around town after the kids. We replaced this last year when the PHEV version arrived, and she has averaged well over 70mpg (including 3 months just on petrol due to a failure in the EV system). Since the repair, she is now running at around 140mpg over 800 miles and 5 weeks - she recharges at home on a 7KW charger we installed and at work and hardly ever has to put fuel in. However, longer journeys will see that average reduce markedly!

I hope this helps - I've chosen the P440e as the 3 litre petrol is sublime and I hope, when mixed with 70 miles EV range (realistically probably about 50miles) for running around town and to / fro the airport as I commute to London / Bristol weekly, then this is a really enticing proposition for me. I had ordered another P400, but the cost of petrol is only going one way, so a little bit of my head ruled and I hope it will give me the best of both worlds. Admittedly, the P400 is thirsty around town, but I tend to use my wife's PHEV for this!

Swiggy / Martin
What a superb and detailed reply — my thanks and appreciation .
The P440E seems to be the model of choice regarding overall efficiency.
Naturally having come from diesel I would like to compare the actual drive enjoyment versus the hybrid . The torque of a diesel has always been a big plus .
One point I wanted to examine is when/ if —will the hybrid recharge - for example on braking etc .I was recently informed by a dealer that recharge does not occur under 70 mph .— don’t know if this is correct although with a plug in I am sure this could be the norm .
My final observation would be for how long the Hybrid would be popular especially when the all electric appears.
Perhaps the proposed launch date for this model has yet to be reviewed especially with the current world problems.
Again my thanks for your detailed reply .

Hi Blackbird,

Good questions and for me, the biggest driver for the hybrid is your use case. I don’t believe that the full electric will make these models less popular for a few reasons:
- The charging infrastructure is still no where good enough and range anxiety will continue to be an issue, especially on a car designed for long journeys.
- Full electric vehicles will continue to struggle with the broad range of capabilities we up these cars for - carrying heavy loads, towing, carrying stuff on the roof and range will be an issue. Bad weather also impacts range significantly and probably also induces further range anxiety.

For me, the PHEv gives me the best of both worlds - the ability to use electric around town and far better fuel efficiency whilst also avoiding range anxiety, been able to tow significant loads without range penalty etc (horse box, boats, garden refuse trailers). I also still get to experience the 3 litre petrol which is superb!

With regards to the re-charge, as far as I’m aware no one has yet driven the new hybrids outside the JLR staff, so I’m not sure how the salesman would know. With my wife’s PhEV disco sport, albeit with a 1.5litre petrol, it recharges as soon as you take your foot off the pedal and even when the EV charge is exhausted and it switches to electric, it always has has enough EV charge to support rapid acceleration. Equally, whilst driving under EV, the biggest thing I found was the smoothness and serenity of the drive with linear acceleration, quite different to either petrol or diesel. With the EV, I don’t think you’ll miss the torque of the diesel as the EV provides instant torque whilst the engine picks up. Ultimately, you’ll need to drive one to work out whether it is for you, even if you try a current PHEV, it will give you more of a feel.

Best of luck with your choice, look forward to hearing your choice!