{"id":3185,"date":"2021-02-19T10:16:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T10:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1339526"},"modified":"2021-02-19T10:16:30","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T10:16:30","slug":"after-driving-the-new-land-rover-defender-i-cant-wait-for-an-electric-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=3185","title":{"rendered":"After driving the new Land Rover Defender, I can\u2019t wait for an electric version"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this week, Jaguar Land Rover announced a seismic shift in its strategy<\/a>. Jaguar is ditching its combustion engines entirely, and will be an all-electric brand. Land Rover, meanwhile, will create a range of six EVs that will be sold alongside its current line-up.<\/p>\n

This will undoubtedly shock and horrify the vast majority of old-school Landy fans who love the cars for their ruggedness and utility\u2026 but I\u2019m actually super stoked about this change. And I\u2019m going to<\/span> explain why.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reality<\/h2>\n

Before we get to my controversial <\/em>excitement though, let\u2019s look at why this is happening, and what those old-school fans think.<\/p>\n

With bans on the sale of new gasoline cars set to come into force<\/a> over the next decade, Land Rover\u2019s shift to electric power had to come sooner or later. Its only option is to innovate, or risk falling into obscurity and irrelevance as the rest of the world moves away from oil-based fuels.<\/p>\n

Clearly, as one of Britain\u2019s most iconic brands, JLR couldn\u2019t afford for that to happen.<\/p>\n

\"land
Credit: Land Rover<\/figcaption>
<\/i><\/a>The new Land Rover Defender is the most technologically advanced Defender ever made, and that makes it the best.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spend five minutes browsing comments on Twitter or Facebook, and it\u2019s clear to see that most Landy fans aren\u2019t onboard with the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cLand Rovers aren\u2019t what they used to be,\u201d they howl. \u201cGood luck when that air suspension craps out, and you\u2019re stuck in the middle of nowhere,\u201d they cry. \u201cLand Rovers are nothing like they used to be, they\u2019re too complex, they\u2019ll never work,\u201d they proclaim.<\/p>\n

While some worry about technological progression being some kind of regression, there is another side of the coin, my side, the <\/span>correct side<\/i>. <\/span>The best Land Rovers aren\u2019t the ol\u2019 faithful mechanical wagons, no, it\u2019s the ones we have today. Why? Because the tech is just mind-bogglingly good.<\/p>\n

The modern way<\/h2>\n

Land Rovers have, and continue to be, some of the most capable off-roaders in the world. I know this because years of my childhood were spent gazing out the passenger window of them. And while that was a magical experience, it simply doesn\u2019t compare to my journey a couple of months ago, when I drove the all-singing, <\/span>all-wading new Defender at Land Rover\u2019s North Yorkshire experience center.<\/p>\n

\"land
Credit: M Beedham<\/figcaption>
<\/i><\/a>The Land Rover Experience Center in North Yorkshire, UK. Deep water, wet rocky descents, and thick mud, put you and the car through its paces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Land Rover\u2019s latest Defender, it has well and truly left its past behind \u2014 and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

The heritage remains, but it now takes the form of a rubberized interior, and conveniently exposed rivets and bolts. Land Rover\u2019s new Defender is rugged and charming like its older brother on the surface, but under the skin, it couldn\u2019t be more different.<\/p>\n

The new Defender is chock-full of 21st century features, but my favorite of them all is its All Terrain Progress Control<\/em>. It\u2019s the car\u2019s pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance and is<\/span><\/span> basically cruise control for explorers.<\/p>\n

Set the speed and the Defender will use all of its tech to just keep on going no matter what. Traction control ensures the vehicle doesn\u2019t slip, smart locking differentials ensure power goes to wheels with the grip, and the car takes care of maintaining engine revs and a consistent speed over whatever you throw at it. All the driver has to do is steer.<\/p>\n

It means a total idiot like me can conquer an off-road course that would have taken years to master in an old-fashioned \u201canalogue\u201d vehicle. Seriously, the capability of this system cannot be downplayed.<\/p>\n

Compare this to the previous Defender that went out of production in 2016<\/a>, and you\u2019ll find the latest version is light years ahead. The progress is phenomenal. The Defender is proof that Landy\u2019s new tech should never be feared, it should be embraced.<\/p>\n

\"defender,
Credit: M Beedham<\/figcaption>
<\/i><\/a>New-school against the old-school. Sure the old-fashioned charm is undeniable, but I\u2019d take the new one every day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The future is electric<\/h2>\n

Brands like Tesla, and off-road oriented Rivian<\/a>, are demonstrating what\u2019s possible with electric drivetrains. Even chop shops are doing EV conversions<\/a> of old Land Rovers, because electric is the future.<\/em><\/p>\n

EVs have great torque delivery, superb weight distribution, and a huge amount of flexibility over how power is delivered to each wheel. It\u2019s a recipe for a perfect off-roader, and provides Land Rover engineers a world of opportunity for making the best vehicle its ever made.<\/p>\n

Land Rover doesn\u2019t have an EV on sale yet, but its sister company Jaguar does, the iPace \u2014 and it\u2019s not a bad first showing. Henrik Fisker<\/a>, the guy that just so happened to design a bunch of James Bond\u2019s cars, drives one. Faced with the challenge of building EVs, Land Rover isn\u2019t going entirely into the unknown.<\/p>\n

\"jaguar,
Credit: Wikimedia<\/figcaption>
<\/i><\/a>The Jaguar iPace was the company\u2019s first foray into the electric vehicle market, and its gone down, pretty well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s more, it takes just one drive of the new Defender to realize how good Land Rover is at implementing new tech to make its vehicles better. It has a 70-year history of continual improvement, and there\u2019s nothing to suggest it will stop when it goes electric.<\/p>\n

Knowing that its friends at Jaguar already have a hold on how to get electric drivetrains working in the real world, the British marque has the foundation for an exceptional range of EVs. And I, for one, am totally stoked and can\u2019t wait to see what it comes up with.<\/p>\n

For those bemoaning the fact Land Rover is going electric, I recommend you fire up Autotrader and start looking at the second-hand market.<\/p>\n

Oh, and considering that most Land Rovers aren\u2019t even driven off-road anymore and are seen more frequently in cities, at least they won\u2019t be chucking out dirty diesel fumes into the face of innocent children anymore.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>SHIFT<\/a> is brought to you by Polestar. It\u2019s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.<\/i> Find out how<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Published February 19, 2021 \u2014 10:16 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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