Land Rover will introduce its first plug-in hybrid drivetrain on the revised Range Rover Sport next year, offering 398bhp with CO2 emissions from 64g/km.

Range Rover’s first plug-in hybrid

Priced from £70,800 on the road, and offered in HSE, HSE Dynamic, and Autobiography Dynamic trim levels, the Range Rover Sport P400e combines a 296bhp 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine with a 114bhp electric motor housed in the transmission.

This enables fully electric four-wheel drive for up to 31 miles when fully charged, or a combined power output of 398bhp with petrol and electric power working together, reaching 62mph in 6.3 seconds on the way to 137mph. It also features a Terrain Response 2 system, configured for electric driving.

The 13.1kWh lithium-ion battery is located under the boot floor, and can be charged at up to 7kW – twice as fast as most plug-in hybrids – via a socket behind the grille badge. Drivers can opt to save or prioritise electric driving, or let the car make the decisions itself based on information from the satellite navigation system.

Deliveries begin early in 2018; the P400e is priced between £1,500 and £5,000 higher than the SDV6 diesel, and is ineligible for the UK government’s £2,500 Plug-in Car Grant because it exceeds the £60,000 price cap for PHEVs. The P400e indirectly replaces the diesel-hybrid version available since the latest Range Rover Sport launched in 2013.For more of the latest industry news, click here.