oop north wrote:

I have been lurking here for a while - had a D3 in 2010 which was a disaster and got rid after 4 months, 2015 got a D4 which I had for 3.5 happy and reliable years, wife on second FL2. I have done an off-road session in a D5, and had a three hour drive in a defender 240. Ooh; should say I have a jaguar ipace (16 months and 14k miles in). I also had a full fat Range Rover vogue SE for 5 weeks 2500 miles when the iPace broke a part on back order. Drove the defender on A road, B road and dual carriageway. Much better to drive on B roads than the D4 was. 4 cylinders terrible getting onto roundabouts / out of junctions compared to my 3.0 litre D4 and the iPace (the full fat Range Rover (275 bhp version) felt Disappointing compared to the iPace. I may have been spoilt).

The defender was very comfortable and roomy and relaxing to drive. Having a rather excellent EV in the iPace though, 240 diesel four cylinder bhp definitely disappointing. I would maybe consider a 6-cyl or PHEV (hopefully the electric motor fills in from a standing start) but would really like 400 electric bhp please.

The Land Rover salesman are really anti ev, and I think JLR is in danger of dying before they get round to electrifying their range - it does of course remain to be seen what happens in the wider market place (and I acknowledge that I may not be representative of that having had a bmw i3 at the same time as the D4, and following a few ev people on twitter and being in ev groups on Facebook) but it seems extraordinary that the defender at launch was less efficient (mpg, co2) than everything else in the JLR range. There won’t be a full ev Range Rover or Land Rover for another 7 or so years, but Volvo are a year or two off an ev xc90 I think, ditto bmw with x5 (or a lower, sleeker version of rhat). I have managed half a dozen 380 miles in a day trips in the iPace and the charging position is only getting better. And I have a (share in a) wind turbine so generate some of my own “fuel”. Oh, and the JLR PHEVs have far too poor an electric range to consider sticking through my business - so if I get a PHEV as a compromise (ipace a bit on the small side for me) it may be an x5 with 50-odd (gentle!) electric miles rather than 20 as in Range Rover attempt.

I would love an EV defender - my wife and younger daughter both really like the new defender (and don’t care about emissions / mpg). Really not sure what I will get but 20 months to decide yet!

J77 wrote:

I’ll move to an EV once I’m pushed, battery tech is getting better every year so I see no point rushing into one. I use public transport if I have to venture into the city anyway.

Tim in Scotland wrote:

I thought that they were banning the sale of NEW petrol/diesel/hybrid vehicles after 2035, not requiring owners of existing ones to scrap them.

Smilesapart wrote:

The other point is.. because in 2035 the Government is going to ban Petrol, Diesel and all Hybrid/Plug in Hybrid Cars, I don’t see the huge benefit in waiting for the Hybrid Defender. Especially seeing as the new Diesels are now so clean in order to meet the strict EU regulations..

J77 wrote:

Do you think there won’t be hefty premiums to pay after 2035 for the joy of driving an ICE vehicle?? Every motorist will be pushed to EV ownership at some point.