Facelift Range Rover Velar arrives with more tech and MHEV heart

Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) has followed the unveilings of the special edition Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque earlier this month up with the reveal of the facelift Velar.

Rolled-out towards the latter end of last year, the majority of the revisions to the now four-year-old Velar are reserved for the interior and underneath the bonnet with the main exterior difference being the inclusion of the special Landmark Edition.

Using the mid-range SE R-Dynamic as a base, the Landmark receives a contrasting black roof and 20-inch alloy wheels as standard, along with a new colour called Lantau Bronze that forms part of a four colour palette, the other hues being Eiger Grey, Santorini Black and Hakuba Silver.

As mentioned, Land Rover has been more thorough inside with the inclusion of the new over-the-air Pivi and Pivi Pro infotainment systems, the former reserved for the entry-level S model only, a new steering wheel, better insulation in the form of Active Road Noise Cancellation technology and the cabin air filtration system for the climate control with a purify setting.

Rear facia follows the front in not being changed.

In addition to the ClearSight front camera, surround-view monitor and a wireless smartphone charger, the Velar drops the rotary dial gear selector for a conventional lever with the only other specification change being JLR’s latest wearable Activity Key that takes the place of the key fob when out outdoors.

With the exception of the Landmark, the Velar line-up comprises three trim levels; S, SE and HSE, the latter pair with the R-Dynamic pack as standard, and a total of 19 models powered by a pair of petrol and diesel Ingenium engines, as well as a first-time hybrid.

As in Europe, a 48-volt mild-hybrid system is standard on the most powerful petrol and diesels with the oil-burner range kicking off with the four-cylinder D200 that replaces the old D180 and D240.

Displacing the same 2.0-litres as its predecessors, and per its designation, the D200 produces 200 pferdestarke (PS) or 147kW with the available amount of torque unchanged at 430Nm.

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Sitting as the top-of-the-range, the now mild-hybrid D300 drops the old Ford-sourced 3.0-litre V6 for JLR’s in-house developed 3.0-litre straight-six that pumps out 221kW/650Nm. Like the D200, and indeed the entire Velar range, the only transmission offered is a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic.

On the petrol front, the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged P250 is the only unit carried over with its outputs standing at 183kW/365Nm. Like the D300 though, the P340, while still with a three-litre displacement, is no longer a V6 but a straight-six with the only retention being its supercharger.

Aided by the 48-volt system, the P340 cranks out 250kW/480Nm and is the most powerful petrol Velar model as the next step-up P400 that replaces the P380 with outputs of 294kW/550Nm, has not been approved for South Africa.

Instead, the line-up is topped by the P400e that combines the 2.0-litre Ingenium from the P250 with a 105kW electric motor for a total system output of 297kW/640Nm.

One of the biggest changes has been the Velar’s interior.

Like in the Sport, the configuration is a plug-in hybrid setup that result in waiting time of 30 minutes from 0-80% using a fast charger and one hour 40 minutes from a seven kilowatt wallbox. Using a standard home socket though will result in a waiting time of five hours 29 minutes with the claimed all-electric range being 61km.

As with the Evoque, the plug-in hybrid Velar comes with three modes; the default Hybrid, EV that uses the battery only and Save where only the Ingenium four-cylinder is used to provide not only propulsion but also to charge the battery on the move.

Pricing

Velar D200 S – R1 290 100

Velar D200 SE R-Dynamic – R1 382 900

Velar D200 Landmark – R1 428 200

Velar D200 HSE R-Dynamic – R1 492 000

Velar P250 S – R1 290 100

Velar P250 SE R-Dynamic – R1 382 900

Velar P250 Landmark – R1 428 200

Velar P250 HSE R-Dynamic – R1 492 000

Velar P340 S – R1 438 700

Velar P340 SE R-Dynamic – R1 531 500

Velar P340 Landmark – R1 576 800

Velar P340 HSE R-Dynamic – R1 611 200

Velar D300 S – R1 458 600

Velar D300 SE R-Dynamic – R1 551 300

Velar D300 Landmark – R1 596 600

Velar D300 HSE R-Dynamic – R1 631 00

Velar P400e S – R1 651 200

Velar P400e SE R-Dynamic – R1 739 100

Velar P400e HSE R-Dynamic – R1 834 000