FIRST DRIVE | Touring France in the new Range Rover Evoque and Velar plug-in hybrid models

Range Rover has introduced a refreshed Evoque for 2024, including a P300e plug-in hybrid model. It’s able to cover 62km in pure electric drive mode, enough to cover the average daily distance driven by Range Rover owners, according to the company.

The Evoque, the smallest Range Rover offering, gains touched-up design elements and new colours, a restyled radiator grille, LED headlamps and other tech upgrades. It looks fabulous in the reduction ethos of the brand.

It turns out the car is fit for use when the wanderlust hits you, as per my recent drive from Paris, France, to the city of Reims northeast of the French capital. Our destination has an enviable association. It’s filled with vineyards where some of the world’s finest Champagne brands are made.

Our tour of France kicked off behind the wheel of the Evoque P300e Autobiography model from the terrace of the Royal Monceau Raffles Hotel, a few doors down from the Arc de Triomphe and its chaotic traffic circle. The slender and cobbled Paris streets gave us the chance to tap into the car’s new electric realm.

The Evoque is able to run in EV mode, on an electric motor that can be charged fully from a wall box in about two hours. We managed to eke a path out of the city in EV mode, or you can choose hybrid mode where the 1.5l/ petrol three-cylinder and electric motor propel the car in unison. The company claims a combined fuel consumption potential of 1.4l/100km. Thumb in “Save” mode to set aside the electric charge for use in another city.

The 227kW and 540Nm total system outputs make for a healthy freeway cruiser. The silkiness of its transmission and ride quality are evident and it wafts comfortably, with more cornering poise when driven enthusiastically.

The new Evoque P300e is now on sale in South Africa with prices starting at R1,258,100.

Range Rover Velar

It’s on the return journey to Paris that I drive the Range Rover Velar in P400e plug-in hybrid guise. The model that’s on sale in South Africa with a starting price of R2,083,000 is a sexy and suave looking thing, and palpably larger than the Evoque, thus threading it through narrow main arterial roads made for a nerve-racking affair at first.

The hybrid Velar features new noise cancellation tech to cover road and wind noises and the same adjustable hybrid system that pairs an electric motor with an eight-speed automatic transmission, but with a twin-turbo 2.0l four-cylinder petrol instead. An enhanced battery offers 64km of electric driving range, and when unleashing it on a desolate farm road, the earlier frustrations with its size melted away.

A total system output of 297kW and 640Nm channelled through permanent all-wheel drive system allows for sprints from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds and the fury is sustained until a 209km/h top speed.

Health and Wellness

International health and wellness content creator Adrienne Adhami was on hand to give perspective on the JLR fixation with cabin air purification at our overnight stay at the Royal Champagne Hotel in Champillon. The fancy climate systems are available across the house brand’s models, and the pursuit is for cabins to become extensions to the trending health benefits of decluttering life through proper breathing and stretching techniques.

Adhami’s talk speaks directly to the reduced buttons, head-up display and a new 11.4-inch Pivi Pro digital infotainment system with touch and voice commands in the Evoque, along with the crisp oxygen blowing through the air vents.