Next-generation Range Rover Velar will get a “more intelligent driving experience”

Range Rover’s upcoming fleet of all-electric vehicles is coming into clearer view as more software information is revealed for the upcoming Velar replacement. A new EV will arrive in 2026 to take the mid-size luxury SUV’s spot in Range Rover’s line up, and JLR says it will “deliver a smarter and more intelligent driving experience”. 

The new electric successor to the Velar won’t use a version of the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform that will underpin the full-size Range Rover Electric, instead it will sit on the firm’s new EMA platform. The firm said in 2023 the first car to make use of this technology would be a “medium-size modern luxury SUV” that will go into production in 2025, and will be a “model from the Range Rover family”. After initial plans to make EMA a multi-fuel platform, it was confirmed to be electric-only. 

The EMA architecture will heavily use over-the-air updates, focusing on features such as ‘evolving advanced driver-assistance systems’, ‘non-stop access to media streaming’ and exchanging data between JLR and EMA-based cars, such as the new Velar, for additional service and maintenance prompts to ‘reduce costs for the client and JLR’.

Judging by its dimensions, this test car could be an all-electric SUV that’ll take the place of the Velar in Range Rover’s line up. The positioning of the fresh EV will place it directly under the Range Rover Electric as a rival to the new Porsche Macan EV, Maserati Grecale Folgore and the upcoming BMW Neue Klasse SUV.

We can immediately see the car’s design has a more rakish appearance than the already pretty sleek Velar. The headlight arrangement looks similar to the current Range Rover’s, along with a prominent grille that we expect will be largely filled-in to enhance aerodynamics. There are bulky wheelarches that house some massive alloy wheels and a sloped windscreen to reduce drag. The section of bodywork behind the third-pillar is merely a decoy, because other angles show this to be a more coupé-SUV shape with a pronounced rear shoulder line. A pair of thin rear lights conform to Range Rover’s current design language. 

Given the EV rides on an all-new platform, there’s little in the way of technical details around, but 800V architecture is expected to allow rapid charging up to 350kW.

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