As if the four-cylinder in the plug-in hybrid Range Rover weren’t shocking enough, Jaguar Land Rover simply installs a three-cylinder in the plug-in versions of the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. Is the British urge to save going too far or can the plug Evoque compete with a BMW X3 xDrive30e?
It remains a bit of a different thing, such a Range Rover Evoque. Not only because of its striking bodywork, which certainly did not become less special at the 2018 generation change, but the positioning of the model is also special. The Evoque is the smallest car in the Range Rover range. That suggests that it is a direct rival of the BMW X2 and Mercedes-Benz GLA, but in terms of specifications, the Evoque is a lot more serious. It is a step bigger and especially heavier than an X1 or X2, but just smaller than an X3. In plug-in hybrid form, however, when it comes to price and performance, it finds itself directly in the waters of the X3 xDrive30e, although Land Rover is also emphatically taking its own path when it comes to the powertrain. The three-cylinder has been on the rise lately, but in an SUV of this caliber we have not encountered it before. The 1.5-liter Ingenium turbo engine in the Evoque is basically a two-liter four-cylinder with a cylinder cut from it. The engine can also be found in the petrol entry-level P160, but it delivers 40 hp more in the P300e than in the base model. In addition, the block here receives assistance from an electric motor, which supplies the rear axle with another 109 hp. The result: 309 hp and 540 Nm. Very healthy figures, even for a car that at 2,157 kg is another 365 kg heavier than its conventionally driven brother.
BMW uses a similar modular engine concept as Land Rover, but the 1.5-liter three-cylinder is considered unworthy of the X3. Just like the Evoque, the plug-in version of the X3 gets the petrol engine from the entry-level model, only with BMW that is a 2.0 four-cylinder. The 184 hp block is reinforced by an electric motor that also delivers 109 hp here, although the structure of the system is completely different. Where the Evoque is in fact a front-wheel drive with an electrically driven rear axle, the BMW is a basically rear-wheel drive model with a longitudinally mounted engine and BMW’s usual xDrive all-wheel drive. The electric motor is integrated in the eight-speed automatic transmission. This means that the BMW always has four-wheel drive, whether driving in hybrid or fully electric mode.