Land Rover have announced they will be putting its first dedicated hybrid model into production in 2013 and the car will be based on the Range Rover Sport.
The Range Rover Sport hybrid prototype (at the moment) in question is named Range_e and previews the diesel-electric hybrid power/drive train the rest of the world should be expecting.
At the moment Land Rover is working on Rang_e’s diesel-electric setup, but according to the British engineers there is a gasoline hybrid is also under development. This is mostly due to the fact that the diesel Range Rover is not available in the United States of America.
The Range_e as well as the upcoming models, will get a ZF 8-Speed automatic transmission, featuring extensive use of aluminum and other lightweight materials destined to lower the Range Rover’s considerable weight. Shortly after the Sport model debuts, the big papa Range Rover and the mid-side LR/Discovery are expected to follow suit as soon as possible with their hybrid versions.
Expect a plug-in to come in around 2015 that would return 20 miles or about 32 kilometers of city driving under electric power before powering their engines.
