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Next Range Rover Velar Looks Like A Wagon In New Spy Photos
Range Rover's lacar is shaping up, and that shape is a very strange one.
JLR is getting ready to bring an electric model of its big-chin SUV to market. The Range Rover Velar EV is coming and the CarBuzz spy photographers have just snapped it in the natural habitat of a large off-roader. That's right, it's being put through its paces around the Nürburgring in Germany. And the new version of this SUV is displaying some very unusual proportions.
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New Velar Needs A More Distinct Brand Look
Land Rover is now three different brands, or at least that's what parent JLR wants you to think. There's Land Rover, of course, as well as Range Rover as its own brand (with a new logo). The last of the three is Defender, a brand that has one model.
To help fortify the distinction, and to help boost sales of the lowest-selling Range Rover model, the company is making big steps in changing up the design of the Velar. And, of course, adding an electric version.
We've spotted the new Velar before during its winter testing. It is slightly larger than the existing model, though we don't have the exact dimensions yet. It will be lower to the ground, as well.
Then there's that new tail, where we're really not sure what the designers at Coventry are doing. We know that test teams need to disguise their new models so we don't see them ahead of time. We also know that there is a need to test them in the real world.
First details of the upcoming Freelander revival has emerged, including the timeline of its arrival.
So we're hoping this oddball rear end is just skillfully disguised, because the Velar looks like a Range Rover with two backs. Seriously. Just look at the location of the rooftop antennas and the seam behind. That line is where the roof on an SUV would normally end. The cut demarks the gap between the tailgate and the roof.
But after that seam, this prototype just keeps going. And going. The roof seam is matched by a line running down the side of the vehicle and behind the rear wheels. So perhaps JLR is going to give this new SUV a very short rear overhang, making it look even more big-chinned than the current Velar. That would mean everything behind that tape line is fake, which seems like a lot.
Will This Be Range Rover's Station Wagon?
An alternative is that JLR is making the Velar look more like a station wagon. That the pinched roofline behind the rear seats is real. Ignore the tape stripe rear door "window" and that possibility seems more likely.
This new Velar is expected to be one of the first on a new electric platform from JLR. The 800-volt EMA platform will reportedly be used for two Range Rovers and possibly an electric Defender. Little more is known, but JLR will need this to be cutting edge if it has any hope of success.
The new model is likely to replace the Discovery Sport, which was the replacement for the Freelander.
We're also expecting a gas version of the new Velar, though it may not be on the same platform as this. JLR is said to be working hard to bring more plug-in hybrids to market as those are proving to be more popular than full electrics in many of the company's biggest markets.
Putting the Velar through its paces at the 'Ring might make some of its competitors nervous. The Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 e-tron will need to be at their best in 2026 when we expect this Range Rover to be officially unleashed.