From the conjoined brand, Range Rover, the second generation Velar prototype. It's an EV and its place in Range Rover's spectrum is furthest from the SUV end and closest to the car end.
This surprised me:
The roofline looks raked and more dynamic, but of particular note is the robust camera and antennae array on the roof – coupled with a relatively fake looking rear window. We’re used to seeing mocked-up and disguised prototypes winter testing, but this particular combination of fake window and sensor array points to one thing: a Polestar 4-style setup without a window.
The Range Rover Velar EV should be here in 2026
www.carmagazine.co.uk
Reading that, it's now obvious in the rear three-quarter view.
Now the rationale given by Polestar for the deletion of the rear window in the 4 and upcoming 5 is that moving the rear bulkhead back allows greater interior space but it has to be higher, while a fastback roofline gives better aerodynamics. The combination gives a coupe-like silhouette without compromising rear space but ends up with a rear window too small to be useful. Cameras supposedly compensate well enough or are even better for this.
The new Jaguar will certainly share many components with the Velar 2 (as well as the Range Rover Electric) and both have been designed under the direction of JLR's chief designer, Gerry McGovern. He's fan of clean modernism in design and to me, modern Range Rovers carry on that aesthetic from the first generation Range Rover and the Rover SD1 by way of the Rovers of Roy Axe and Gordon Sked. Since the Velar 2 is going to be a fastback, it will look even more like an SD1.
JLR currently owns the rights to the Rover brand.
A bit of history of the SD1. The model here has the updated but still handsome interior while the early ones were more pure.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkmzfdHyBIQ&t=477s&ab_channel=Number27
Land Rover's first go at a 'conventional' car:
The Road-Rover is a largely forgotten slice of Land Rover history, but one that's worth recounting, given the way in which its maker has developed in
www.aronline.co.uk
You may not want to click on that link - it's rather... odd-looking. A few years back RR was rumoured to be reviving the Road Rover name and concept for a new EV but it was cancelled at around the same time as the similarly unreleased last Jaguar XJ. The Velar 2 seems to be filling that role now though.
Anyway, the point is, Jaguar, Range Rover, Land Rover have become very closely tied together over the years and Jaguar's current strategy has to be understood within the context of that relationship. Without it, it certainly would be an ex-cat.
), or b) its got significantly more power than grip so that you have to tame The Beast, otherwise it'll kill you.
