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Chances are it'll end up playing by itself in the market
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Land Rover (you know, the brand known primarily for its huge, rugged, boxy gas guzzlers) is now legitimately taking steps to make sure its future lineup is as green as its badge. With the LRX Concept last year - which ended up winning the Concept Truck of the Year award - Land Rover hinted at the possibility of a new small vehicle under what has become its Range Rover sub-brand.
It also appears as if the British government fell in love with the idea, so much so that they’re ready to throw £27 million at Land Rover to make the thing (although that’s only a small ding in the estimated £400 million development cost).
With that, the word is that Land Rover intends to have a this new product in development real soon-like. The LRX-themed model is to be the brand’s “smallest, lightest, and most efficient Range Rover” ever built, and it may even end up incorporating a gasoline-electric hybrid power train (if not the 2.0 liter turbodiesel hybrid found in the concept).
What we do know is that the LRX concept incorporated Rover’s Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) hybrid drive train with regenerative braking capabilities. The ERAD system is basically a smart drive train that takes measures to maximize traction and efficiency (by putting electric power to the front, altering left-right torque bias, and even detaching itself from the driveshaft).
With Land Rovers, as you can imagine, the more fancy green tech under the skin, the better. In this case, the ERAD was mated to Land Rover’s vaunted Terrain Response system (with its Hill Descent Control and an integrated Eco mode for city cruising). If the entire setup - that is, the ERAD and the rest - can be packaged so as not to impede storage space, it will hopefully sell well enough to help Land Rover reach its goal of cutting fuel consumption and emissions by 20%.
As for other green tricks, Land Rover has a few options on the table. Besides its start/stop system (which can already be found on certain Freelander/LR2s), one path that makes sense is to work with Jaguar, which is already said to be developing its own extended-range vehicles (after all, both brands are under the Tata umbrella these days).
If the LRX concept does come to fruition, it could very well end up creating its own niche segment: green compact luxury SUVs. It could also, however, end up all alone in the little world it's created; I don’t see any more 3-door luxury hybrid SUVs coming to market anytime soon.
Images: Land Rover ; Auto Express
Video: Land Rover via AutoMotoTV on youtube
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