Three Land Rovers Get Engine, Tech Upgrades

Land Rover has attracted plenty of attention and accolades recently for its all-new Defender SUV, but the automaker hasn’t been standing pat with the rest of its lineup in the meantime.

The 2021 model year will bring notable updates to three of the company’s other vehicles, including the Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque and Defender Sport.

The Velar will feature new mild-hybrid inline 6-cyl. powertrains that produce either 335 or 395 hp. Both will use a belt-integrated starter-generator to harvest energy lost during deceleration, and a 48V lithium-ion battery has been added under the cargo floor to store the energy and assist the engine when accelerating. An electric supercharger is integrated with both engines and will be supported by a twin-scroll turbocharger.

The Range Rover Evoque will see significant tech updates for the 2021 model year. The vehicle’s driver-assistance features are expanded to include a new, standard 3D surround-view camera and a new rear-collision monitor.

A new cabin air filtration system (below) is designed to filter out allergens, strong odors and fine particulate matter. It’s also capable of capturing and displaying interior and exterior air quality information.

Tech is the big story with the 2021 Discovery Sport as well, as it also will get expanded driver-assistance features and updates to its infotainment system.

New standard equipment includes a 3D surround-view camera, traffic sign recognition, lane keep assist and a driver condition monitor. Land Rover also says Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be standard on the Discovery Sport for ’21.

All three new models will be updated with Land Rover’s Pivi Pro infotainment system.

RR Evoque 22 cabin air filtration

The interface was designed to reduce the number of interactions needed, and the screens themselves now have their own dedicated power source to ensure faster processing and more responsive touch controls. The automaker claims most popular features and functions are accessible from the Pivi Pro home screen in two taps or less.

Pricing for two of the new Land Rovers is on the rise: Range Rover Evoque models will move up by $650 to start at $43,300, and the Range Rover Velar’s price tag gets a $600 bump for the new year, now starting at $56,900. The Discovery Sport will see the biggest price increase ($4,100) for ’21, to $41,900.

Exact rollout dates for the new vehicles aren’t available yet, but at this point late in 2020 we should start seeing them on dealers’ lots soon.

Land Rover Discovery 21 (2)_0