#2021 land rover discovery hybrid full

Indeed, so good is the refinement that we kept noticing an odd liquid-noise from behind the dashboard, almost like a distantly-flushing toilet. When that happens, that 1.5-litre three-cylinder unit is raspy, but smooth and characterful, and it never raises its voice further than a distant rumble so refinement is excellent.

#2021 land rover discovery hybrid full

The powertrain seems mostly well-judged and on a full battery you should be able to get a solid 40-45km out of a charge before the call for help from the petrol engine. The only giveaway is the ride quality, which is a little sharper over bumps, but we suspect that you could dial some of that back by dropping down an inch or two from the 20-inch alloys of our test car. The P300e is also very good at disguising the fact that it's heavier at the kerb than a standard model (clocking in at a significant 2,138kg here) and there's little-to-no sense through the steering, or in any extra body lean, that it's packing extra mass. Little has changed, then, in the switch to plug-in-hybrid power and, while it never feels quite as sharp to drive as its slightly smaller brother, the Range Rover Evoque, the Discovery Sport is still a really pleasant thing to conduct along a winding road.

The standard Discovery Sport is one of the nicest and sweetest mid-size SUVs to drive, with lovely feel to the steering and excellent cornering balance. Fuel consumption is rated at 2.0 litres per 100km, while CO 2 emissions are just 44g/km. Combined, the power output is 309hp (hence the slightly inaccurate P300e badge) with a healthy 540Nm of torque. Fully charge that battery (which takes slightly less than an hour-and-a-half from a home 7.4kW charging point) and you can drive on just electric power for as much as 55km, according to Land Rover. It's assisted by an 80kW electric motor that draws its power from a rechargeable 15kWh battery pack. Although clearly related to the existing 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo 'Ingenium' engine family, this one is a three-cylinder unit of 1.5-litre capacity, which Land Rover says is some 37kg lighter than an equivalent four-cylinder. There might yet be some compelling reasons to buy this plug-in Discovery Sport, the P300e model, after all, though. The fact that the electric motor is mounted under the boot floor means that there's no option for a third row of seats, so if you need to carry lots of people, you’ll have to stick with diesel or petrol power. Sadly though, you can't have this Discovery Sport with its usual USP of seven seats. Boot space is excellent, with 963 litres available (Land Rover measures these things to the roof, not to the luggage cover as do most manufacturers) and 1,794 litres with the rear seats folded. Ditto the digital instruments, which look a little cheap, graphically speaking.Ĭabin space is, of course, a Discovery Sport strong point, with lounging legroom in the back seats. There's also the fact that the Discovery Sport has not yet received Land Rover's latest-spec 'Pivi Pro' infotainment system - the old infotainment is fine, but falling a bit behind the times. The layout on the centre-console looks sleek, but it does take a bit of getting your head around, especially as you have to press some buttons to call up different functions for the handsome, tactile, rotary controllers.

Inside, the cabin - once again - clearly lifts its basic style and shapes from the old model, but the detailing and the perceived quality are in another league compared with the first-gen Sport. Which is grand - handsomeness has never been lacking in the Discovery Sport's armoury. The smoother grille and lights lend it a slightly classier air than that of the old model, but the uneducated eye would struggle to tell the two apart at a distance. This Discovery Sport P300e plug-in hybrid gets an electric rear-axle and a new 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, but does it live up to its premium billing? In the metalĮven though the Discovery Sport, updated only last year, isn't really a new car at all, but rather a thoroughly re-engineered and re-skinned version of the 2014 original, it's still a very striking-looking car.

Land Rover, at long last, adds electric power to its best-selling models.