There are a lot of people making a lot of money out of "Net Zero", Phil!

Although I agree we need to alter the way we do things, go back to the 19th Century and beyond and the weather patterns were very like we have now, with even severe drought conditions in the last decade of the century.

We have stopped using common sense on these things and are lead by the nose via social media and "influencers" (whatever they may be!) and of course our beloved BBC.

Reports in the papers yesterday of 3 hour queues at charging points round the country, so I will not be buying anything all electric! I certainly would not want to be stranded in my electric car in a snow storm on Shap! All LR cars from 1984
2021.5 Vogue SE D300 Carpathian Grey
2018 Vogue SE British Racing Green GONE

Couldn't agree with you both more Phil and Chalky.

As for Chalky's comments:

"Although I agree we need to alter the way we do things, go back to the 19th Century and beyond and the weather patterns were very like we have now, with even severe drought conditions in the last decade of the century.

We have stopped using common sense on these things and are lead by the nose via social media and "influencers" (whatever they may be!) and of course our beloved BBC"

Clearly you've done your research Chalky and in my opinion, you're 100% correct

It's a shame that more people don't research in the same way - I suppose it's easier to just believe everything that is reported on the TV / Social Media

I've got to the point where I take everything on the BBC / ITV news with a pinch of salt, and during Covid I didn't watch any of it for well in excess of 12 months - Best thing I ever did.

Last edited by aja500 on 30th Dec 2022 2:11pm. Edited 2 times in total

AJA!!

Happy New Year and hope you get your new car soon!! All LR cars from 1984
2021.5 Vogue SE D300 Carpathian Grey
2018 Vogue SE British Racing Green GONE

You too - Thanks Chalky

aja500 wrote:

and a 400 mile range possible, I'd be front of the queue.

.

I will certainly be watching the development of the electric FFRR with interest Bill, as I'm a big fan of silent motoring.

However, my main concern at this stage, is the infrastructure for charging. I'm sure more charging points will be introduced over the coming years, but will that number of chargers keep up with the number of electric cars being produced and subsequent demand.

You have a place in France too, so as you know only too well, because the roads are so straight, smooth and free of traffic, combined with the already standard 80mph (130kph) speed limit on toll roads, you can quickly find yourself approaching 90-100mph. That's not such an issue if you're in a diesel or petrol car, but what kind of range is going to be achievable when travelling consistently at this speed in a full electric vehicle, especially when that vehicle is the size and weight of a FFRR. I can't help but think it's going to quickly eat through batteries and as a result, doubt we'll be seeing many MPG's / miles per charge.

Travelling to our place is approximately 750 miles each way, so I reckon if I'm pressing on in a full electric, I'd be looking at 3-4 charging stops in each direction without range anxiety.

Based on a return trip, while waiting to charge, that's going to equate to a lot of coffee and pain au chocolats!

I'll eat my hat if they have 400 - 500 miles of range on an EV Range Rover with current tech without a Hummer sized 200kWh battery. I think it'll be a pretty big battery and be around 250 miles realistic.

Also for reference that Mercedes Concept Car was extremely aero dynamic and they coasted wherever they could to increase range. That car is nothing like a big slab of a Range Rover.

An update on my D350 HSE which has now done 4k miles on mainly longer journeys.

On a tour of Scotland this week and according to the app my journeys are often in the high 40’s mpg and even hit 50 mpg on one run. I think the lowest has been mid 30’s mpg. This means I’m getting 600 miles to the tank!

I’m absolutely loving driving it too. It’s easy to overtake people and brilliant on the windy Scottish A roads. Not sports car brilliant but it corners really well for a 2.5 tonne RR. The V6 engine is so refined too.

I definitely made the right choice with the D350 and the next one will be a D350 too. MY23 D350 HSE
On my 7th RR plus various other JLR vehicles

What kind of speeds are you going to get it so high?

I've got a Discovery 5 at the moment with the D300 engine from 2021 so same engine I believe but slightly lower tuned. It's I believe a drag co-efficent of 0.33cd vs the new Range Rover at 0.3cd so not quite as slippery in the air but not far off. The Range Rover though is around 250kg heavier I believe.

I can just about break 40mpg on a long run but that's rare, it's normally 35 - 37mpg range on those and shorter journey's closer to 30mpg.

I think I'd have to roll down Snowdon in neutral to hit 50mpg

Just to add with your comment that the next one will be a diesel also, I believe it's either 2025 or 2026 that Land Rover is going to stop offering diesels completely. So just keep that in mind.

Speed limit plus 10% as the roads are infested by cops with nothing better to do. Remember that’s the app mpg which tends to be a bit conservative but the 600 miles per tank is accurate.

The 700nm of torque makes for leisurely driving in the D350. I’m unsure how that compares to your D300?

I’ve already ordered my next D350 which will hopefully arrive in the next 18 months to 2 years, and if you’re correct I will be keeping it for a long time. MY23 D350 HSE
On my 7th RR plus various other JLR vehicles

Ah are these figures you've calculated via Fuelly or something then?

Yes, I can get 600 miles on a tank but can do that on a lower mpg as the Discovery 5 has a 89 litre tank. If you was to drain that completely empty then in theory you'd only need to hit 31mpg on average to get to 600 miles from that amount of diesel. If I was averaging 40mpg I'd be able to do 780 miles per tank and that definitely doesn't happen.

I find it a pretty quick and nippy car considering. My son had an old Audi A3 3.2 litre V6, same car and engine as a Golf R32 with around 250hp without turbos and the Discovery could be neck and neck with that in acceleration. Not nearly as quick as cars I've had before it but I don't generally want to go fast in it, I find it lovely just at a leisurely cruise

To clarify the app I am referring to is the LR remote app that records your journeys and mpg.

I’ve used the same app on several L405 SDV8’s over many years and comparatively the mpg of the D350 is much improved.

The L460 D350 tank is 80ltrs or 17.6 gallons. Even at zero miles there would be some fuel remaining so let’s round down the useable fuel available to 17 gallons. The average mpg to achieve this is around 35mpg probably a bit higher as I think there will be more than 0.6 gallons left in the tank at zero miles. MY23 D350 HSE
On my 7th RR plus various other JLR vehicles

Yes I understand, is not what's fed into the Remote App the same as what the car reports for those journeys? I have to confess I've not checked that and just assumed it would be one and the same.

I agree that the Mild Hybrid Ingenium Inline 6-cylinder engines are much more efficient than the old Ford V6 Diesels before them. You can see in Discovery Forums where early Discovery 5's with the Ford engines are noticeably worse in fuel economy than the newer Discovery 5's with the Ingenium engines. Defenders also get good mpg with these engines despite having a very boxy shape.

One of the other ways they actually achieve better fuel economy than the earlier models though is they switch to rear-wheel drive only beyond a certain speed on-road driving. They can of course re-engage the front wheels should there be slip but by disengaging the 4-wheel drive, that helps with fuel economy also.

I was just wondering where you'd seen or come up with 50mpg was all, I hadn't thought they'd changed the engines but they might be doing something fancy to bump the numbers from my 2021 engine.

This was the 50mpg run according to the LR app and there are several longer ones in the mid-to-high 40’s.

Click image to enlarge