The first hybrid models from Land Rover is not expected to be ready to reach markets before 2013. Named Range_e, the British luxury car marque has revealed that it is using an advanced diesel-electric hybrid technology that will be coupled to a modern Range Rover Sport bodyshell. A fleet of Range_e’s comprising of only 5 Land Rover Sport’s will be put through a rigorous testing phase that is slated to begin in late 2010.
As things stand now, the year 2013 is going to be an eventful period for Land Rover as its also the time when a sizable number of Land Rovers is likely to come out of production lines. And the first model to reach showrooms is slated to be the Range Rover Sport to be followed by the full size Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery. The new hybrid engine under development can well be made to power these next generation Land Rovers.
The hybrid Land Rovers will feature a eight-speed ZF automatic transmission that will also be a part of all future Land Rovers. A good thing with the new ZF automatic transmission is that they sport the same exact dimensions as their manual counterparts though adds a weight penalty of 110 kgs. The company has confirmed that it is developing both petrol and diesel hybrids since the brand has a lot of takers in Europe, America as well as in the Middle Eastern countries. It will be the diesel version of the hybrid that will be the first to make it to the European market and it is the diesel hybrid that is being emphasized upon at present since engineers believe the diesel hybrid presents a much more complex challenge and once that is accomplished, things will be a lot easier with the petrol hybrid.
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