Land Rover Is Making a Range Rover GT. We Got to See It Up Close

• What's new: Land Rover will soon introduce a grand-touring electric performance vehicle wearing the Range Rover name.
• Why it matters: This is new territory for Land Rover, which has always focused on off-road capability and on-road comfort.
• Edmunds says: The interior looks great, but can Range Rover really produce a GT that drivers will want?

Interestingly, it's also going to be electric, built off Range Rover's new Electric Modular Architecture (EMA). A hybrid version will also be available at some point.  

So, is this a visit to crazytown for Range Rover? Or will the new Range Rover GT have the goods? Time will tell, but after seeing the Range Rover GT prototype's impressive interior up close, Range Rover may be on to something.

Austere, high-tech and comfy

The interior design is simple, following Range Rover's reductive philosophy in recent years. The GT's driver is greeted with a small screen above the steering wheel, and a much larger one in the center of the dash. The dash top itself is covered in fabric, with no cutlines for the airbags or even speaker grilles; since it's fabric, sound easily passes through. There will also be a standard full-color head-up display to supplement the small OLED instrument screen, which seems like a good idea since the screen is on the dinky side.

The seats are covered in a soft faux leather that's molded to the padding itself, resulting in another seamless surface. The seats themselves are comfortable in a long-haul kind of way, essential for the kind of driving envisioned for the GT. It's also very high-quality, with luxurious and expensive-feeling surfaces and switches.

Speaking of switches, there aren't many. There are window controls on the doors, of course, and physical stalks on the steering wheel for the turn signals, wipers and gear selection. The stalks are a new design for Range Rover, blending into the driver monitor camera module atop the steering column. Otherwise, there are no physical climate controls, so I assume they're in the central touchscreen, which was off during my time with the GT. I also didn't see controls for the air vents, so here's hoping Range Rover has a good solution for adjusting airflow. Interestingly, there is a vent directly in front of the driver that passes through the steering wheel.

As for storage, the GT has quite a bit. The center console forms a bridge above the floor, with a large area below that includes covered storage. The sliding lid over the twin wireless phone charging pads is translucent, so if your phone screen lights up, you can see it through the lid. Clever. Or distracting. You decide.

Perhaps most surprising is the amount of space. Although obscured by camouflage, the GT's roofline is low, at least for a Range Rover, but I had no problem fitting my 6-foot-1 self inside, with plenty of legroom, headroom and shoulder room. If anything, I'd want to slide the seat forward a bit.

That sense of space extends to the rear seats as well. Even with the front seat back a bit too far for my driving position, there's plenty of room in the rear in all directions, and the soft seats, padded armrests and adjustable seatbacks mean rear passengers will likely be just as comfortable as the front. The panoramic glass roof extends to the rear, but there are two overhead cutouts to make sure the passengers have enough head space. And yes, there are air vents back here, and two USB-C ports as well.

Range Rover might be on to something

Even with the caveat that the interior I saw was a prototype and not fully finished, I'm impressed. The seats are comfy and soft, the switchgear has the appropriate high-end click, and it's surprisingly roomy, belying the low roof that even the camo can't obscure.

I do wonder if Range Rover's commitment to reductive design may have gone a half-step too far in this case. While clearly high-quality, the design itself is austere to the point of being a bit generic. All of the screens were off when I was looking at the GT, and that may make a difference.

No matter what, I'm intensely curious about what the rest of the Range Rover GT will have to offer, and if it lives up to its grand-touring billing on- and off-road.