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John Mahoney16 Jun 2015
NEWS

Reign Rover: Queen gets new hybrid SUV

Queen trades in old ’02 Rangie for new SVO’d LWB Range Rover diesel hybrid

Land Rover has announced its Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) department has engineered a new Range Rover for the Queen’s royal engagements.

Based on a long wheelbase Range Rover diesel hybrid, SVO set about carving the rear tailgate and roof off the regular large SUV to create a large viewing platform for the ageing monarch.

With significant under body reinforcement to support the roofless Land Rover it’s not known if SVO were tempted to give the royal Range Rover more power.

In standard form, the Rangie Hybrid LWB combines a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel with a 35kW electric motor integrated with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Combined, the output exceeds 254kW/700Nm.

The diesel hybrid was chosen, said Land Rover, because of its ability to travel at up to 50km/h for 1.6km on electric power alone.

It’s not known if the best in-class wading depth of 900mm remains unchanged. Nor how much the conversion cost Land Rover.

The new Range Rover replaces the Queen’s former 2002 model.

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