Range Rover Electric begins hot weather testing

Range Rover has revealed new images of its first all-electric model as it undergoes final testing.

The Range Rover Electric is currently being put through its paces in the desert heat of the United Arab Emirates ahead of customer orders opening in 2025.

The undisguised prototypes are being tested in temperatures of up to 50C and up to 90% humidity ‘in pursuit of maximum client cabin comfort and vehicle capability’.

The hot weather testing in desert and city environments is designed to test the EV’s thermal management system in the most extreme circumstances and comes after the cars were put through similar hardships in the freezing conditions of the Arctic Circle.

In the UAE, the Range Rover Electric is also being tested to ensure it can match or surpass the off-road abilities of its ICE siblings. This includes tackling the 300ft ‘Big Red’ sand dune formation in Sharjah’s Al Badayer desert, used to assess all Range Rover models.

The tests are designed to assess and help calibrate the new Intelligent Torque Management system, which has been developed specifically for the all-electric SUV. Range Rover says this new setup can reduce the torque reaction time at each wheel from around 100 milliseconds, to as little as 1 millisecond, offering improved traction control while driving on fine sand.

Thomas Muller, Range Rover’s director of product engineering, said: “A hot climate is one of the most challenging for any battery electric vehicle, because of the need to cool the cabin and optimise battery performance at the same time.

“The additional challenge of driving on sand requires controlled low‑speed torque, so our specially developed traction control and thermal management systems work in harmony to ensure power delivery is unaffected.

“Our tests have shown that in this climate, repeatedly driving the equivalent of 100 metres uphill on fine sand, Range Rover Electric matches the performance of its ICE equivalents; in some instances, even surpassing them – thanks to the introduction of these new features.”

Range Rover hasn’t given any technical details of the new model but has said it will offer class-leading off-road and towing abilities, including an 850mm wading depth. It has also said the EV will have ‘comparable’ performance to the V8 petrol model, which produces 537bhp and can go from 0-62mph in just 4.4 seconds.