Range Rover Electric Quietly Delayed To 2026

It feels like the Range Rover EV has been a very long time coming. First announced alongside the reveal of the fifth-generation car nearly four years ago, at the time we were told it would arrive in 2024.

A waiting list was opened in 2023, with a 2024 release date still earmarked, but that year came and went without a sign of the electric Rangie. Eventually, Range Rover’s website was tweaked to say that orders would open in late 2025, and finally, just a couple of weeks ago, we had a go in a near-finished prototype.

Now, though, the website has been quietly updated again to say that pre-orders won’t be open until 2026. A story in The Guardian, citing “two people with knowledge of [JLR’s] plans”, pinpoints pretty much the two exact reasons you’d expect for an EV delay right now: slower-than-expected demand for electric cars, and the impact of Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on cars imported to the US, expected to be one of the car’s biggest markets.

The latter should now be slightly less of a concern following the UK’s trade deal with the US that’ll see that extra cost reduced to 10 per cent of a car’s value on up to 100,000 cars a year, but these aren’t the only reasons for the apparent delay.

The insiders cited by The Guardian also claim that an extended testing period is needed for the car, as it’s the first EV to be built directly by JLR. While developed by the company, assembly of the Jaguar I-Pace was contracted out to Magna Steyr in Austria.

The newspaper goes on to report that those with their names on the waiting list for an RR EV – thought to number around 62,000 – have been informed of the delay, and that it shouldn’t have a massive financial impact, because Land Rover’s various combustion and hybrid models continue to sell strongly. News of the delay, however, comes off the back of JLR confirming it'll cut around 500 UK jobs, all in management roles and through a voluntary redundancy programme.

When we drove the prototype, we found that, rather unsurprisingly, electric drive suits the Rangie down to the ground, thanks to its smooth, quiet power delivery and ability to finely metre out torque during off-road situations. It seems, though, that those still waiting for that experience might have to wait just a little longer.