Jaguar is gearing up to launch its I-Pace in the
second half of 2018 and a new report is suggesting Land Rover will eventually
receive its own version of the electric crossover.
In an interview with Drive, Land Rover Chief Creative
Officer Gerry McGovern confirmed the variant was inevitable. He declined to say
when the model will be launched or how it will be positioned but the designer
confirmed the vehicle will have to be capable off-road.
That's not much to go on but focusing on the model's
off-road capabilities would be one way to distinguish it from the Jaguar
I-Pace. The model would also have unique styling with plenty of Land Rover DNA.
There's no word on what Land Rover's version of the
I-Pace will look like but McGovern said electric powertrains open up a number
of possibilities as the elimination of a conventional engine frees up a
significant amount of space. As he explained, "Do you want to utilize that
space for all types of innovative features. Do you put all that extra space
inside? That does fundamentally change the volume and proportions of the
vehicle, which is crucially important to design."
