2027 Range Rover Electric First Drive: Behind the Wheel of Land Rover's EV Flagship

• What's new: I got a taste of what the new Range Rover Electric is like from behind the wheel.
• Why it matters: The Range Rover Electric brings EV power to the renowned luxury SUV, allowing it to fight the Cadillac Escalade IQ, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Rivian R1S and more.
• Edmunds says: I can't make a final judgement just yet, but my initial impressions are positive 

Which is the long way of me telling you that the Range Rover Electric should still be pretty capable off-road. While the short off-road course at the Gaydon facility was a far cry from the stuff I encountered a couple of days later when driving the Defender Octa at Eastnor Castle, the Electric had no problem making short work of the trail I was on. There were a couple of steep inclines, and while the Electric doesn't have a low-range gearset, its electric motors produce enough torque that it's unnecessary. 

To existing Range Rover drivers, it'll all seem familiar. The interior is essentially identical, although the digital screen that serves as a gauge panel is programmed differently. However, all of the same off-road terrain management modes are there, and the electric motors can react to changes in terrain in as little as 50 milliseconds, which I'm told is 100 times faster than the mechanical system. The Electric is also capable of fording streams up to 35 inches deep, although I didn't get a chance to test that particular capacity. 

I can say that the systems all worked well though. Even on all-season tires like my test car, it was comfortable and capable of scrambling over the terrain. The air springs adjust the Range Rover Electric's height to clear obstacles while maintaining a reasonably comfortable ride over rough terrain. It's also surprisingly maneuverable, thanks to 7.3 degrees of rear steering. The specs say the Range Rover Electric can scramble up slopes of 45 degrees, and the one-pedal driving mode provides up to 0.2 g of braking, mimicking the engine braking you'd get from a low-range gearset. Keep in mind, mine was a very brief test drive, maybe about 15 minutes or so behind the wheel, and I'm looking forward to confirming how it is in the real world. 

As for the other side of the Range Rover equation — the one where you drive a high-end luxury SUV around bougie neighborhoods — the Range Rover Electric felt like a Range Rover. It's as supremely comfortable inside as any other Range Rover, and it'll be available in the same trims as the rest of the Range Rover lineup, including the ultra-luxurious Range Rover SV Ultra, so it won't lack for creature comforts. Thanks to the lack of gasoline-engine vroom-vroom noises, it's also the quietest Range Rover you can get. It uses unique calibrations to the active noise cancellation system to specifically cancel out noises unique to the electric drivetrain, reducing full-acceleration noises by up to 7 dB. It was certainly quiet, although I should point out I never went very fast. 

Appetite: whetted

Like I said, this was the briefest of drives, maybe a total of 30 minutes behind the wheel of the new Range Rover Electric. But it got my curiosity going. How will it do on the rough-and-tumble freeways and roads of Los Angeles? Will its estimated 330-mile range pan out in the real world? Will it have the same luxurious aura of the current Range Rover? Time will tell, but when I shake my magic 8-ball, it comes up, "All signs point to yes."