Electric ‘baby’ Land Rover Defender to launch by 2027 – report

Land Rover’s iconic Defender 4×4 could lend its rugged off-road styling to a ‘baby Defender’ within the next four years, reportedly joining the British brand’s line-up of smaller SUVs by 2027.

UK publication Autocar reports the model – understood to be called the Defender Sport – would be sold alongside Land Rover’s road-focused Discovery Sport and Range Rover Sport as an alternative for fans of the 4×4’s design, but with a desire for comfort.

According to the report, the Defender Sport is likely to be based on Land Rover’s upcoming Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) – a new platform which is expected to only underpin electric models, all but ruling out the possibility of a petrol or diesel power.

The EMA platform will also underpin electric successors to the current-generation Land Rover Discovery Sport, as well as the Range Rover Evoque and Velar.

Autocar claims the Land Rover Defender Sport will measure approximately 4.6m in length, 2m wide and less than 1.8 tall – significantly smaller than the current Defender 90, 110 and 130 body styles.

Land Rover’s baby Defender comes as the British marque moves to reorganise its iconic nameplates into a “house of brands” – with the Range Rover, Defender and Discovery effectively becoming sub-brands of the Jaguar Land Rover group, with common designs.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) marketing director, Anthony Bradbury, told Autocar the Defender Sport needs to remain capable of being rugged just like its bigger sibling, albeit with more of a focus on comfort on-road.

Autocar reports Land Rover’s EMA platform-based models are expected to be equipped with an 800-volt charging architecture, capable of being charged at up to 350kW – rivalling the Porsche Taycan and Hyundai Ioniq/Kia EV range of electric cars.

The publication also claims an electric variant of the full-size Land Rover is expected to launch in 2026, based on the MLA platform which currently underpins plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

In Australia, the Land Rover Defender is the brand’s best-selling model, with 1956 examples reported as sold between January and July 2023 – almost half of the British marque’s local sales.

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