Electric Range Rover EV prototypes tested beyond the Arctic Circle

Some cars promise the world and deliver a cardboard box. But not the Range Rover EV. Into this machine, Land Rover has poured its entire engineering soul, a generous splash of madness, and a heaping dose of good old British stubbornness. And somewhere, out there beyond the Arctic Circle — where even polar bears are forced into down jackets — a few lucky journalists, teeth chattering and eyes wide with wonder, managed to slide behind the wheel of an early prototype.

It turns out that the Range Rover EV behaves as if it was designed for both the icy desolation of Mars and the manicured streets of Mayfair, with equal aplomb.

With an 800-volt electrical system, 350-kilowatt charging capability, and a double-decker 117 kWh battery pack, the Range Rover EV tips the scales at around three tonnes — or, if you prefer, roughly the weight of a well-fed rhinoceros. Yet thanks to two electric motors delivering a combined 550 horsepower and 850 Newton-metres of torque, this rolling fortress does not so much lumber as surge forward with surprising grace.

A lowered centre of gravity and entirely new torque management systems — the Independent Driveline Distribution and Integrated Traction Management — ensure that this electric leviathan reacts to driver inputs a hundred times faster than its petrol-powered sibling. That's not just impressive; that's the kind of improvement you’d expect when trading in a steam engine for a jet turbine.

Already, more than 60,000 eager buyers are said to be ready to throw their wallets at it — an impressive figure, even before the car has been properly unveiled. Whether they will actually receive their electric Range Rovers, however, may depend less on British engineering and more on the political weather, with Trump-era tariffs looming like a furious storm cloud over exports.