Range Rover Sport Electric: The Off-Road Icon Goes Electric — First Prototype Details

Range Rover Sport is getting an all-electric version for the first time, and the company just gave the world its first real look at it. Rather than a static concept on a stand, JLR brought running prototypes to a private preview at the Goodwood Festival of Speed — and put them through some genuinely dramatic tests to prove the electric powertrain hasn’t softened the car’s off-road credentials.

Here’s everything confirmed (and estimated) so far.

The Goodwood Preview: Airplanes, Stairs, and a Track

At a closed event during Goodwood weekend, Land Rover ran electric Range Rover Sport prototypes through a series of theatrical stunts designed to prove the EV can still do what its combustion-engined siblings do. One prototype rolled straight out of an airplane fuselage, another climbed a flight of stairs, and a third was let loose on a track for handling runs. The stunts were a deliberate callback to past Range Rover Sport marketing moments — the original 2013 model was famously driven through a Boeing 747 fuselage at its launch, and a plug-in hybrid version climbed nearly 1,000 steps up Hong Kong’s “Heaven’s Gate” staircase back in 2018.

The message was simple: going electric doesn’t mean giving up the rock-crawling, wading, and low-range capability the Sport built its reputation on.

Range Rover’s global managing director, Martin Limpert, has said the electric version will bring a new edge to the model and give the brand a chance to redefine what a performance SUV can be. Land Rover is promising the finished car will be “more dynamic and faster than ever.”

What the Prototype Looked Like

The cars at Goodwood wore the current, on-sale-since-2022 Range Rover Sport body, just with different alloy wheels and EV-specific puddle lights to distinguish them. Land Rover has been clear that this isn’t the final look — spy shots of a camouflaged, facelifted Sport have already been caught testing at the Nürburgring with different bumpers and revised lighting, suggesting the production electric model (and the broader mid-life refresh) will look noticeably different when it’s fully revealed.

Specs: What’s Confirmed and What’s Expected

Land Rover has been more forthcoming with specs on this car than usual, likely because it shares its underlying hardware with the already-detailed Range Rover Electric.

Confirmed:

• Power output: 542 hp (550 PS / around 404 kW) from a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup
• Battery: A 118.5 kWh usable-capacity pack — the same double-stack unit used in the full-size Range Rover Electric
• Architecture: 800-volt electrical system, enabling fast DC charging up to around 350 kW
• Platform: JLR’s MLA architecture, which was designed with electrification built in from the start

Expected but not yet officially confirmed:

• Torque: Likely around 627–637 lb-ft, mirroring the full-size Range Rover Electric
• Range: Estimated at roughly 300 miles (around 480 km) on a full charge
• Charging speed: Expected to match the Range Rover Electric’s ability to add meaningful range in well under 20 minutes on a suitable fast charger

Journalists who briefly drove a prototype at Goodwood’s motor circuit described the ride quality as excellent — arguably better than the combustion version — with brisk, smooth acceleration, a hint of torque steer from the front axle under hard throttle, and a single-pedal driving mode particularly useful for off-roading. Inside, the cabin was reported to be nearly identical to the current Sport, aside from EV-specific graphics on the 13.1-inch central touchscreen and 13.7-inch driver display.

A Five-Powertrain Lineup

Unlike some rivals going all-electric, Range Rover isn’t retiring anything to make room for the EV. Once the Sport Electric arrives, the Range Rover Sport lineup will offer five distinct powertrains side by side:

• Diesel
• Six-cylinder petrol (mild hybrid)
• V8 mild hybrid
• Plug-in hybrid
• Fully electric

That mirrors the approach Bentley and several other luxury brands are taking right now: add an EV option rather than force existing buyers into one.

Launch Timing and Pricing

The Range Rover Sport Electric is expected to go on sale globally around September 2026, with a full specification reveal to follow alongside the wider mid-life update to the Range Rover Sport range. An India launch is expected by around March 2027.

Official pricing hasn’t been announced, but early reporting points to a starting price of roughly £100,000 (~$135,000) in the UK — notably less than the estimated £130,000–£150,000 starting price expected for the larger, flagship Range Rover Electric. US estimates land in a similar ballpark, around $100,000 to start, which would position it close to the current range-topping combustion Range Rover Sport trims (the existing lineup already tops out north of $150,000 for the SV).

As always with pre-launch estimates, treat these as informed projections rather than confirmed figures.

 

Pros and Cons (Based on What We Know So Far)

Pros

• Genuine off-road credibility, not just marketing. The Goodwood stunts were a clear (if theatrical) attempt to prove the EV retains real capability, not just paper specs.
• Strong power and a large battery. 542 hp and a 118.5 kWh pack put it solidly in the same performance bracket as rivals like the Porsche Cayenne Electric.
• Fast charging. An 800-volt architecture with up to 350 kW charging should make road trips far less painful than most current electric SUVs.
• Buyer choice preserved. Existing diesel, petrol, V8, and hybrid buyers aren’t losing their preferred powertrain — the EV is purely additive.
• Likely priced below the flagship EV. Early estimates suggest a real price gap under the full-size Range Rover Electric, undercutting some rivals in the segment.

Cons

• Still a prototype. Full specs, real-world range, interior details, and final design haven’t been locked in — everything here could shift before the official reveal.
• Heavier than the combustion version. A battery pack of this size adds significant weight, and it remains to be seen how that affects agility, braking, and long-term tire/suspension wear despite JLR’s reassurances.
• Late arrival relative to rivals. Competitors like the Porsche Cayenne Electric and BMW iX5 are further along, giving Range Rover some catching up to do on software maturity and charging network partnerships.
• Design carryover for now. The prototype’s near-identical bodywork to the 2022 model means we don’t yet know what the “real” production design will look like, which makes it hard to judge the finished product.

The Bottom Line

The Range Rover Sport Electric looks like a case of “same capability, new powertrain” rather than a reinvention — which may be exactly what buyers of this SUV want. Early prototype impressions are positive, the specs are competitive, and Land Rover clearly wants to prove that going electric doesn’t mean giving up what made the Sport famous in the first place. The real test comes later in 2026, when the full specifications, final design, and official pricing arrive alongside the car’s proper launch.