The hybrid Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are powered by a diesel engine alongside an electric motor rather than a petrol unit – even though the leading markets for hybrids are the United States and the Far East, where the appetite for diesels is small.

‘There are a couple of reasons why we decided on a diesel,’ said Peter Hichings, Jaguar Land Rover's director of hybrids, to news agency Headlineauto. ‘We wanted to make the hybrid the most fuel-efficient Range Rover and we wanted it to be Europe-biased. We see a real opportunity in Europe. The technology is adaptable to petrol engines, but there are no current plans.’

Hichings also explained why the cars have not adopted the plug-in hybrid technology Land Rover has been working on.

‘The world isn't ready for plug-in hybrids,’ he said. ‘There isn't the infrastructure to recharge them, and a plug-in hybrid which is not plugged in regularly is hopelessly inefficient. But the technology is fully developed and we can be ready when the market is ready.’

Creating the hybrid models posed several challenges, said Hichings.

‘From the start we said they were going to be hybrids and they were going to be Range Rovers, but there were not going to be any compromises,’ he explained. Passenger and luggage space in both has been maintained by mounting the lithium-ion batteries in a boron-steel cage beneath the floor.

‘That was the first challenge – the package,’ said Hichings. ‘The second was to make it work, to be durable and to be as good off-road as any other Range Rover. The third was to ensure the two power systems would switch seamlessly.’

There was also the issue of preserving the cars' ability to wade in water up to 900mm deep with batteries mounted beneath the floor.

‘We have not isolated the batteries completely,’ commented Hichings. ‘They are going to get wet. But we spent a great deal of time and trouble on the seals. We took the cars to all the places we normally go to and tested them for tens of thousands of miles to make sure they are proper Range Rovers.’