Land Rover is expanding the Defender’s engine list with a bunch of interesting new machines. For example, the Defender will not only be available with new six-in-line diesel engines, but Land Rover is also adding a plug-in hybrid to the Defender range.
The Defender, officially reborn in September last year, was already available with an extensive range of petrol and diesel engines. For example, you could already get the Defender with 200 hp and 240 hp four-cylinder diesel engines and the off-roader on petrol level was already available with a 300 hp four-cylinder and a 400 hp powerful mild-hybrid six-cylinder. Land Rover is now also bringing six-cylinder diesels and a plug-in hybrid variant to the Defender. That plug-in is directly the cheapest Defender you can buy.
Plug-in hybrid
Already at the introduction of the Defender it was known that the car would be available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. That plug-in version is officially called P400e, and thus the model follows the naming that Land Rover applies to the plug-in hybrid variant of the Land Rover Range Rover of the same name. After all, the plug versions of the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are called P300e. That difference is therefore in the powertrain. Unlike the Evoque and Discovery Sport, the Defender P400e, like its larger plug-in brother, kicks in to a system power of 404 hp.
In the nose lies the 300 hp four-cylinder that we know from the P300, although the machine now works together with a 143 hp electric motor. The battery pack has a capacity of 19.2 kWh. The plug-in hybrid P400e goes 43 kilometers on one battery charge. With a 50 kW fast charger, the battery pack can be filled up to 80 percent of its capacity in 30 minutes. A sprint from a standstill to a speed of 100 km / h completes the Defender P400e in just 5.6 seconds. Its top speed is 210 km / h. Just as interesting: the P400e can pull up to 3,000 kilos!
Mind you, the P400e plug-in hybrid will only be available for the long Defender 110. The shorter Defender 90 has to do without a plug version. The starting price of the Defender 110 P400e is € 82,016. This makes it – with the exception of the 90 and 110 on gray license plate – by far the cheapest Defender.
Diesel engines
Then the new diesels, because the Defender is also introduced to the all-new six-in-line diesel engines from the Ingenium family that Land Rover recently added to the range of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. The 3.0 straight-six, equipped with mild-hybrid technology, will be available on the international engine list in three power variants: D200, D250 and D300. The 650 Nm powerful top version helps the Defender to a speed of 100 km / h in 6.7 seconds. Forget about the current D200 and D240 four-cylinder diesels, which will be replaced respectively by the new 200 hp and 500 Nm strong D200 and the 249 hp and 570 Nm strong D250.
X-Dynamic
The Defender 90 already mentioned several times in this article was already on the Dutch price lists, but Land Rover is now also starting with the delivery of this short version of the Defender. The engine range of the 90 is, with the exception of the plug-in version, identical to that of the Defender 110. Land Rover is also introducing a new version: the X-Dynamic. This new Defender flavor closes the gap that exists between the regular variants and the X version. The new variant is available for both the short Defender 90 and the longer Defender 110 and is characterized, among other things, by its Silicon Satin-colored skid plates with matching grille. Inside, of course, a series of X-Dynamic badges can be found.
Land Rover is further expanding the Defender’s option list with new exterior colors and new options such as a fabric roll top for the Defender 110 and an expanded Meridan audio system.