Land Rover Completes Hybrid Trek from England to India

Land RoverLand RoverUnited Kingdom, 1978 > present15 models
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set off on a journey from its headquarters in Solihull, England, to the Tata Headquaters in Mumbai, India, 53 days ago with three Range Rover Diesel HybridLand Rover Range Rover 3....United Kingdom, 2014 > present prototypes, and the trek has been an unequivocal success. The 10,472-mile (16,853km) journey took the three cars through 13 countries and two continents to test the hybrid system in the new Range Rover before it goes on sale in Europe in the first quarter of 2014.

“In developing the hybrid-powered Range Rover, our objective was to gain hybrid’s fuel economy and carbon emissions advantages without compromising the Range Rover’s go-anywhere capabilities, its cabin space or its refinement. The success of this remarkable expedition clearly demonstrates we have achieved that,” said Peter Richings, Jaguar Land Rover Hybrids and Electrification Director.

The route started in Europe and eventually hooked up with the Silk Road that was the traditional trading route from Asia to Europe for thousands of years. The Silk Road split in Kashgar, China, and the trucks got permission to be the first foreign-registered vehicles ever to use the Xinjiang-Tibet highway that reaches 5,300m (17,388ft) above sea level.

Most of the latter portion of the trip did not take place on what would traditionally be called roads. Instead, they followed gravel tracks and cattle trails. Once they entered China and India, they had to deal with the dense traffic of their roads.

Land Rover says that the hybrids performed even better than expected at high altitudes. Because they do not rely on air for combustion, they do not lose power at high altitudes like traditional engines.

The trucks were also fitted with data logging equipment that recorded 300 gigabytes of data over the entire trip. Land Rover is looking for ways to further refine and improve the system before it goes on sale. However, the hybrid system performed without issue, and the only flaws during the trip were 15 tire punctures, four bent wheels and four broken windshields.

The Land Rover hybrid powertrain uses a 3.0-liter diesel V6 engine paired to a 47hp and 125lb-ft electric motor for a total system output of 335hp (340ps) and 516lb-ft of torque (700Nm) with an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF. The battery pack and electrical components add 120kg (264.5lb) to the car.