- Land Rover’s baby EV, dubbed the Defender Sport, has been spied testing again.
- The boxy SUV rides on the same EMA platform as the upcoming Evoque EV.
- JLR could re-engineer the platform to take advantage of strong hybrid demand.
JLR’s masterful reinvention of the Defender proved the doubters wrong and added millions to the automakers’ balance sheet. Now it’s hoping that a baby version powered purely by batteries due in 2027 will enjoy the same success, but it might need some major surgery to fully realize its potential.
The bonsai EV, which will effectively replace the ancient Discovery Sport and could be called the Defender Sport, was spied testing again this week. While the final name might be unclear at this point, what’s under the skin isn’t. The baby SUV’s blanked grille and lack of exhaust pipes tell us its an EV and confirm it’s running on the same EMA electric architecture that will also underpin the upcoming Range Rover Evoque EV.
Also: Shrunken Land Rover Defender Is Coming For The Baby G-Class
It’ll be thoroughly modern platform with 800-volt charging and JLR has invested huge sums to make it happen, including a £500 million ($668 million) refit of its Halewood plant in north west England and the construction of a brand new battery site in the south west.
But with electric sales having failed to take off as expected in key markets like the US, is JLR really prepared to leave sales on the table by failing to offer customers the combustion powertrains many of them still want in their new cars? Could the company change its plans and adapt the EV-only EMA platform to also accept hybrid power?
It wouldn’t be the first automaker to do it. Fiat responded to weak sales of its electric 500e by slotting a 1.0-liter mild-hybrid petrol engine from the discontinued combustion 500 in the nose, and Porsche recently confirmed it would add ICE power hero models to the top of the new 718 EV lineup, and has scrapped plans to make its super-SUV an EV. The pricey utility will now get straight combustion and hybrid engines instead, and Porsche is also building a new ICE Macan to sell alongside the new Macan Electric.
JLR hasn’t made any specific comments about that kind of rethink regarding the EMA platform, but it did announce last year that it, like many other automakers, was taking a more measured pace when it came to electrification than it had planned.
“What you have seen from other OEMs is that the race to BEV is starting to stutter a little,” then-CEO Adrian Mardell said at the time. “PHEV acceptance has been quite a surprise. We are working hard in the interim time to make more PHEVs available to the marketplace.”
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