Report: Range Rover LRX hybrid confirmed for production

Dynamically designed and arrestingly attractive, Land Rover's LRX concept has won much praise on the show-car circuit and now we have the first tentative confirmation that a hybrid version of the vehicle will enter production. The standard version of the LRX was just confirmed for retail in March.

The UK Government also announced in March that a grant offer of up to £27 million ($44 million) would be made available to Land Rover for the production of an all-new car, and now the hybrid model is expected to go live with a production version of the Land-e Concept's electric/petrol drivetrain - as we reported about two years ago.

The LRX's hybrid powertrain should be able to run in electric-only, petrol only and hybrid drive modes. The complete cost of the project is estimated at around the £400 million ($650 million) mark. It will take another two years to bring the advanced hybrid system to market, however. In the mean time, stop-start and brake-energy regeneration will be launched across the Land Rover lineup, reports AutoExpress.

Land Rover’s need for a smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicle means both the standard LRX and its hybrid twin will be core to the lineup. The company confirmed that the new LRX will carry the Range Rover title when it confirmed the car for production several months ago.

The LRX Concept was first revealed at last year’s Detroit Auto Show and featured a new 2.0L diesel-hybrid powertrain, which when running on bio-diesel achieves a fuel-economy of 60mpg (4.7L/100km) and a correspondingly low carbon emissions rating of 120g of CO2 per km. Expect to see some version of this eventually feature in the production version of the LRX. Other elements of the concept vehicle that could make production include carbon-fiber panels and engine stop-start systems.

Production will be handled at Land Rover’s Halewood facility in the UK, which employs about 2,000 people and is currently responsible for the LR2 (Freelander 2) and the Jaguar X-Type.