From Luxury SUVs to Battery Maker: A Look at Land Rover's $5 Billion EV Investment

• What's new: Land Rover spent $5 billion on a new factory for its own electric motors and batteries.
• Why it matters: It's a huge commitment for a volatile market.
• Edmunds says: Land Rover is thinking globally and being smart, but time will tell how this investment plays out.

I got a tour of the factory before previewing the upcoming Range Rover GT, and it's clear that Land Rover is in it for the long haul, with bespoke electric motors and batteries for a variety of upcoming products. Built alongside the company's existing gas and diesel engines, the batteries and motors are built on dedicated new lines at the Wolverhampton facility. It will be responsible not just for the new Range Rover Electric, but for every electrified Jaguar and Land Rover product, and it's impressive, as well it should be for its $5 billion investment.  

In part, Land Rover is basing this investment on interest. The company says more than 80,000 people have signed up for info on the Range Rover EV, about half of them in North America. Interestingly, about 70% are new to considering a Range Rover, and only about 20% currently own an electric vehicle of any sort. That translates to conquest sales for the brand, something it needs if it wants to meet its goal of nearly tripling sales in the next few years.

Beyond building everything in-house, the potential of electric vehicles has led to smart decision-making regarding its big EV SUV. For example, U.S. Range Rover Electrics will use the NACS charge port, allowing it to use the Tesla Supercharger network. But to make things even easier, it will feature "plug and charge" software for networks that support it. That means you'd simply plug in the car and it'll immediately charge your car and your wallet without needing to do anything extra. Range Rover will also be working with suppliers to install 240-volt home-charging systems for customers, and it uses advanced AI to predict range, and even create a "digital twin" of the battery to predict possible failures. 

It's all in an effort to win over buyers who may be new to electric vehicle ownership and smooth that transition. Similar technology has been used by other manufacturers. However, it shows that the company is doing quite a bit more than just slapping a battery and motors under its existing vehicle and calling it a day. 

Smart approach

I think Land Rover is being smart about its electric vehicle ambitions, especially considering how volatile the EV market can be. In the U.S., there have been wild swings in interest, largely due to the reduction in federal and state tax credits and other policy changes. Still, the U.S. is only one country, and Land Rover is a global brand, so if the Range Rover Electric and others don't catch on here, there's the rest of the world. Smartly, the Range Rover electric itself is built on the same line as the rest of the Range Rover family at Solihull in the United Kingdom, allowing for flexibility depending on demand.

While it is clearly committed in the long run, Land Rover has made some adjustments, with rumors suggesting the electric Discovery has been pushed back until 2030. Nonetheless, I came away impressed. Land Rover — and Jaguar, of course — has jumped in with both feet in the electric vehicle game. While I drove the Range Rover Electric briefly, it'll take testing on local roads and at our track to see how good an EV it is, and if the investment will pay off down the road.