The 122MPG Luxury SUV! Is The Range Rover Velar PHEV The Sweet Spot in the JLR Line-up?

[@WorldwideHypercars]

Good video but I like the old style of reviews where you actually start off with an acceleration and drive and talk in the car. I like the old style because I know what to expect when watching one of your videos and it was more calming rather than you shaking and constantly moving the camera around like this one

[@Salubrious101]

You totally missed the point James, I ran a mitsubishi Outlander Phev for 3 years and due to my daily commute being under 20 miles, the 32 mile electric range was perfect for me. My record was 4 months without driving into a petrol station, easily the cheapest car to run I've ever had. I moved out of London into the country and now drive a BMW 730d perfect for my current needs. Phev's are great if you have a fairly short commute or have lots of city driving, won't suit everyone.

[@theliberatorszen2916]

Great vid James but I really do prefer your previous way of you using your professional cinematic skills when it comes to filming - it reminds me a bit of Rob on Salvage Rebuilds UK (brilliant channel) as he is clearly self taught or a bit Shmee150 (which I can't stand!). 🙂 The amount of KZbinrs walking round cars holding a camera is so common but your professional production values James are clearly superior. 🇬🇧👍

[@citizenfour9622]

… I can’t stand that creep either! 😒

[@matts4744]

But a big plus one for Rob on Salvage rebuilds despite his production values!

[@tehklevster]

@@matts4744 Nothing wrong with Rob's production values. They work really well for his (excellent) channel.

[@theliberatorszen2916]

@@tehklevster I agree but film school talent shouldn't be wasted!

[@theliberatorszen2916]

@@matts4744 His content with his partner Chris is great and really informative. 👌

[@pavunistao]

I really like this interior option. My country is very hot and leather doesn't do well with that, in fact it's quite uncomfortable. With the rise of ventilated seats this has become less of a problem, yet I still love fabric. But I agree with you, even though it was a premium option in the past, it has no reason to be today.

[@EvoraGT430]

Shame the exterior is like the back end of a baboon.

[@ijandrzejuk121]

Don't worry mate, you can't afford it.

[@EvoraGT430]

@@ijandrzejuk121 Wrong again. I just like subtlety and flowing lines.

[@ethanhulme2564]

Never thought of it that way

[@Z4coupeuk]

I think the point you’ve missed is for people doing lots of short journeys - school drops or small 10-15 minute commutes, it’s very much possible to just use the electric power and charge at home, and repeat this throughout the week, saving the petrol for any bigger journeys. That’s what it’s there for IMO, because I can’t think of anyone that drives in pure EV areas (if those even exist)…by doing this, 60-80mpg is achievable - Harry Metcalf did this in the X5 PHEV this year 👍🏽

[@cameronmurray3039]

Your absolutely spot on mate. I don't think this guy really understands the reason why PHEVs can be useful. A work colleague of mine has one and regularly gets over 100mpg. He as you say does short journeys under 20 miles and charges regularly. I find it silly this guy is criticising it for its poor mpg when he hasn't charged it! So obviously it's going to have poor mpg figures

[@sideshowbob32]

At 13:11 Jay did explain his attempts to charge the vehicle. None of the local chargers were working hence why he had to complete the review with no charge. Would be interested to see what the car do can with a full battery in the real world

[@stevehealey53]

@@sideshowbob32 I've had an Outlander PHEV for 7 years, and only have to fill up when I go away. All about-town trips are done on electric, and for that, PHEV's are brilliant. Inexplicably the mpg figures stop at 99.9, but I'm never under that - unless I go away, which is when the petrol comes in. Charging away from home using a public charger is a total waste of time - 22 miles for £7 - no sense to that. But if you can plug in with an extension lead overnight, for about £1.30, it's great. (You can charge with an Outlander, but it uses a load of petrol.

[@stuchly1]

Even then, the ability to use the energy of the ICE to charge the battery in a hybrid car sounds like a no-brainer obvious feature to include.

[@pinolillopower]

Great review, i still cant understand why you dont have at least 700000 subscribers. Salute fron barcelona.

[@cib2413]

Pretty sure that’s the Vegan spec interior James made out of sustainable materials that are purposefully not leather. You can spec much more luxurious leather.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

The steering wheel was still leather though and this was more expensive than the base leather!

[@cib2413]

@@JayEmmOnCars You sure it wasn't pleather? lol

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

I'd love a Rangie but LR's reliability track record doesn't fill me with confidence. This one comes with the Ikea trim package.

[@bartacus3521]

Ikea would be higher end, this appears to be "Canadian WalMart" spec, which is truly awful.

[@Elijah-cy9do]

Which basically makes it a Volvo lol

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

@@Elijah-cy9do Huh?

[@CarsofGlasgow]

soo true

[@thomasmn66]

If you follow the basic maintenance for mileage/age, service them regularly you’ll be fine. Follow the forums and you will see plenty of cars exceeding 200-300K miles with original engine. One 2015 Range Rover Sport seen yesterday on the Land Rover owners forum on Facebook was sitting on 447K miles. Just look after them and you’ll be fine, just like any luxury car.

[@peterstevenson3503]

As usual balanced review and not a marketing video. Keep it up Jay and thanks

[@timcollins380]

Yes, like the new walkaround style James.The plastics are cheap. I had a brand new 2018 RRS V8 Supercharged for 10 unreliable months before I got rid of it. I was very unimpressed with the build quality and plastics, they were very similarly scratchy to those in the Velar. I have owned 7 JLR products over the last 20 years or so. I will never buy another one. Ridiculous premium pricing without the premium quality.

[@ric355]

Video feedback as requested: I wasn't too keen on the hand held walkaround part of the filming. Lots of others do that and it can at times be a bit hard to watch with the wobbly camera thing going on. Also, you seemed a bit hyper and breathy in this one during the walkaround (e.g. when the bonnet was up). It all calmed down once you got to the test drive when normal service was resumed. I prefer to see work done with a tripod personally. It's just easier to watch and feels less rushed and has a higher production quality (at the expense of your editing time, no doubt).

[@ProximateRHINO]

I agree with you mate. One of the main reasons I watch him is his review style and quality compared too others.

[@theliberatorszen2916]

I agree wholeheartedly. 👍

[@thomasdawe1837]

I couldn't care less about production value but was a bit surprised by the ADHD

[@theliberatorszen2916]

@@thomasdawe1837 ?

[@mthorn572]

Yes James I like this format. Even seeing you open the door gives me an idea of how it feels, and a traditional "5 point walk around" that I was taught in the early days of car sales career remains a solid way of undressing a car. Keep it up!

[@Aprill264]

I really like this way of doing walkarounds around the car

[@Manu-Official]

if it is as reliable at the rest, it's going to do a million MPG by being stationary at the garage.

[@fubar12345]

Modern LR's are as reliable as any other car when the service schedule is followed. If you buy a used one that hasn't been serviced, then yes they are complex machines with lots of options to go wrong, but that is true of any modern car.

[@stefanbraem]

I personally like it more when you have a more static cam. This is a bit tiresome to look at for me.

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

First world problems really are a bitch 🤣

[@stefanbraem]

@@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt He was asking for feedback on this and being an avid viewer of this channel, I'll provide it 🙂

[@robertwoodliff2536]

Know what you mean.......but you get more information.........when Jay has a crew, it'll settle down.

[@haygatedevelopmentsltd]

We have a 3.0d hse and I love it, such a great car and effortless to drive. Never had an issue in just under 20k miles.

[@jak493]

The walk arounds sound like its keeping you fit! I liked the video and am trying to get my head around these hybrids as they work whilst there is charge but then you are just carrying around a lot of extra weight when they run out (which it will as we won't always remember to charge it up!). I like the way you keep it interesting with a good sense of humour and its not all about the specs. Thank you

[@CarToneHK]

Bang on for the Mondeo switches, dad had one when I was born and those windows switches were keyed into my brain

[@baileywestby]

I very much prefer this style of video

[@guinnessharvey4476]

Love your “cameraman experience”coming in with your notes on cloth and cameras:)) would actually love to hear more about your cinematography career:)

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6nIe4pjh86hhtk

[@L0RDLUK]

24:15 Can confirm. That is, indeed, as you do.

[@Auto_Funk]

Nice review :) I've got an Evoque P300e and it does charge when in SAVE mode, it can get up to around 25 miles of EV range when driving for around 30-50 miles... It's not very clear though and I only found out through experimentation!

[@peterbrooke8103]

Agreed,I have found the same, you can almost deplete the EV and regen back again on longer journeys

[@Natak222]

Cheers for this info! You just convinced me to go ahead with a p400e

[@robstruthers9040]

I would argue it’s not a stupid place to put the charging port as that is exactly where Tesla fits it on all of their cars and they account for a large proportion of the Electric Vehicles on the road

[@JohnAgustinScuderia458595]

This is the only Range Rover I like because it looks like a damn concept car!

[@stanl1979]

I think the use case for these PHEV 4x4’s is that you can use the electric motor for plodding around town, taking the kids to school, running errands for the day, shopping, etc. and when you need to go on a longer trip you have the range of a petrol engine. We use our Outlander in this way, but the range is around 30 real miles of electric and it’s just about enough for a typical day, then re-charge overnight at home. Would love a better quality PHEV 4x4, as the Outlander is a bit agricultural, but there are limited options and the Outlander was cheeeep!

[@shiTthebed86]

This will do 40mpg like all the others do in real life.

[@shiTthebed86]

Or 21

[@Robert_B_445]

14:49 - according to Richard Porter of Sniff Petrol, that is apparently a switch from a 1985-94 generation Ford Granada

[@shoharasurahim4132]

that switch is older than the car as whole...shame that doors handles could be broken in just 10 years or more....that switch could be repurposed to other newer car models, decades after this car getting totaled...

[@nasen2727]

The problem isn't the new WLTP test cycle. It is in fact very realistic when it comes to measuring mpg for a standard petrol or diesel car. The proble is plug in hybrids which are charged up before the test so that the cars can achieve ridiculous fuel economy figures. So yes, if you charge up your velar every 50 miles or so, it will do 122 mpg. If, however, you use it in the real world, then it's just a P300 that weighs more than it should

[@comeberza]

If we think about the WLTP as a way to measure commute driving consumption which is 95% of driving specially near cities, the numbers are accurate and would help very much to reduce pollution in big populations. I'm dont even want to mention what that tax rise on charging when electric cars are being pushed on us beyond reasonable is, because KZbin would delete my account. We desperately need much smaller states 🤮 Thanks for the review

[@EvoraGT430]

COVID has shown that smaller states are not always a good thing.

[@plugsocket9432]

30MPG from a Plug in Hybrid! My Father was getting 27MPG out of his RS3 with 400PS. He was with JLR for 17 years (2000 to 2017) with their cars and now has moved to German cars and hasn't wanted to move back to JLR. He is looking forward to his new car the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo which has been ordered although there is quite some wait on it.

[@jamesthird8213]

PHEVs seem to be more about gaming the system than providing a useful car. The manufacturer can claim some crazy MPG figure, which helps reduce their fleet average. The buyer pays less road tax and is able to park in EV only spots (often without having to pay for parking). Then, at the end of the day, they can fire up the ICE and drive home.

[@cameronmurray3039]

A work colleague of mine has a PHEV and regularly gets over 100 mpg. The trick is you need to charge them often and mostly used for short journeys. This guy in the vid is moaning about mpg but ain't charged 🤡

[@ijandrzejuk121]

Excellent video James! The walk arround works fine. Loved the Ford Falcon estate (Melbourne Taxi yellow) @24:17.

[@joshfisher6383]

14:40 my uncle 2008 mondeo has the exact same switch for the front seat height adjustment

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

These types of videos are fine if you are short on time. Looking forward to the next video. Keep up the good work.

[@MrPleps]

The walk aroud style is nice it feels for me like im doing a quick detail job (as i do as a summer job)

[@dj_paultuk7052]

Just not impressed with the MPG of these modern cars. I did 220 miles today in my 24yr old SAAB 9000 Aero 2.3T with 362BHP on tap, and averaged 41.3 MPG. So yeh, Progress is not progressing very well.

[@lesvosace602]

the mrs evoque which also has the 2 litre turbo ingenium is about 200hp so I'd imagine the base hp of that one is about the same

[@philipcupid6660]

Yes I had a similar problem with a first generation Renault Zoe with 4 different charging points back in 2012

[@BEGGARWOOD1]

Neighbour had this power plant in two cars . Both caught fire on the motorway !

[@rudolfvanderven]

Personally I like this type of review, keep it going! And loving the Velar.

[@andersniemi6046]

At least the moire patterning on that interior isn't as bad as on my local news anchors tie.

[@vargapeterke]

The Vlog style video is good! 👍🏻

[@vladx2]

1. The material is very nice. 2. Where are all these places where you’re not allowed to run on petrol, and how is it enforced? It’s silly to burn petrol, emitting a bunch of emissions, in order to charge your battery to drive with zero emissions.

[@j3xk72r9]

If you buy a PHEV, you need to make the effort to plug it in. With a full battery in hybrid mode, it would be switching to electric power on light throttle openings, probably starting from standstill on electric power and giving better fuel economy. You really haven't given it a proper chance.

[@domtdoodar99]

I think you missed the point, the phev part (plug in) is meant for people who can charge at home and want to save using fuel around town / local journeys. Or for people who want an EV but don’t have home charging and unreliable public charging

[@onshore1ft]

Much prefer the tripod set up. Watching you walking around panting into the mic with shaking camera makes me queasy.

[@jamiemack2349]

I have this same P400e set up in my Range Rover Sport - The RRS doesn't even have a SAVE mode, meaning by the time I get near London, the battery is as good as flat... As you mention, given c. 25% of the overall power output relies on the hybrid drive, you are quite often driving a P300 engine with a c.400KG weight penalty...

[@EvoraGT430]

RRS is about 1000Kgs heavier than most cars already, so you could argue the whole car is excess weight.

[@JohnMcLusky]

I have a Golf GTE and I get about 80-120mpg on longish journeys in hybrid mode. For local trips I just use electric mode, and that obviously uses no petrol at all, and I charge at home as and when I need to. I don't know if JLR messed up with their implementation or you needed to charge more, but PHEVs aren't a completely stupid concept!

[@georgecaldicott7805]

Good video but you miss one important point. I have a Mercedes ML and am now looking for a replacement. I thought about a Velar and borrowed one. Even when the drivers seat was at its lowest I could not get in without knocking my head on the door frame whereas I have no problem with the ML. Please therefore advise what other car provides easy driver entry. I am 6ft tall and about 14st !!! Colin

[@Dunkelzeitgeist]

I do enjoy this style of review (for other KZbinrs) but, for your style I think static camera with lots of quality info suits you and the channel more; just personal preference I guess, your bubbly attitude and style of projection means the camera is sorta shaky and unbalanced, the static camera offsets your captivating style to me. But I know nothing about cameras and recording aha

[@thedetailingdoctor5746]

Yeah the late e46 are very beautiful I’d love a 330ci over the 130i if it wasn’t for the drop in power 230bhp in a heavier car just wouldn’t feel right going backwards

[@benjaminlocksmith8932]

I love a bit of a walk around

[@joshualewis3337]

VAT was always 20% for public charging - just some companies were trying it on at 5%. Government then clarified.

[@ruane1995]

The Union Jack design on the seats looks ace.

[@Rhowhat]

The union jack is as cringe as it is on the Mini.

[@clarktjl1]

I think this is an awesome review James, great point you make regarding the engine charging the battery.

[@revman417]

Yes James, I like the new walk around style...

[@Hali88]

with these plug in hybrids best to charge them at home. If you don't have a proper charger then 3 pin plug works too, slow but these hybrids don't have super big batteries so it's doable

[@Appgroda]

I was actually at the dealer yesterday looking at a velar phev.

[@John-209]

I am a proud American who sadly currently resides in the peoples Republic of California, which is temporary. I’ve always argued against this point but I must say brits are probably better drivers that Americans as you guys don’t seem to bother as long as you have 2 inches clearance on each side with those tiny lanes half the drivers here would commit seppuku from fear.

[@forresttm]

Yeah I scared the crap out of a American friend that was visiting. I thought the whole "wrong side of the road" thing was what was keeping him quiet. It was the trees going past within half a foot at 60mph in a small 1.0 hatchback that did it 🤣

[@xPUR3xSHOTZx]

Thought the whole point of a phev is to charge at home otherwise you get horrible mpg (and by the way the 6 cylinder option JLR have is the new inline six - not V6)

[@philipcupid6660]

Took me 9 hours of finding compatible points to get a 65 miles journey home due to these problems and Renault's breakdown service which only carried me less than a mile to a Waitrose car park where I could stay for 1 hour max that carried me 14 miles

[@Elijah-cy9do]

Beautiful design the R-dynamic version, i reckon it's a future classic

[@MrInternFTL]

If it can keep running LOL

[@IverKnackerov]

Using a 2lt petrol engine strapped to a massive SUV, to charge a lithium battery …….is surely rather defeating the whole object of electrification of cars ?.

[@hunyango2k]

122 mpg... sounds too good to be true.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

It is

[@matthewpumfrey2178]

OMG that rear seat switch 😂 Straight off a mid nineties Escort! Can't believe it.

[@kb9072]

Any car without dark leather is a mistake. I've had cloth seats that look like a tramp has been sleeping on it only a few years into its life and cream leather goes the same way.

[@svensson2439]

At first i thought that the interior was one of those "look we got a vegan option" thing but the steering wheel look like it´s leather so nope just wierd choices i guess.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Yep just weird choices

[@andrewnorris5415]

MPG depends on how you drive these kinds of cars. If using a lot of the 400 bhp - it will not be good. But if taking it easy will get high MPG. Not a car for a petrol head for sure. I would get the Polstar myself of the two.

[@Cloxxki]

If you empty the tank and battery driving slowly, how far do you get...on a gallon on average? To get 122 mpg you probably need to stop for a charge every...time it runs out.

[@DjDolHaus86]

Yeah that's the seat adjustment switch from a MK4 Mondeo (might be older but definitely present in the mk4)

[@ianaltass9063]

I have a P250 SE 2019 model R Dynamic and very happy obviously some annoying things like lag on infotainment system

[@mch2ly648]

Those rear seat switches are even older than the Ford Mondeo. I remember those on my mates dads Ford Granada. That Ford parts box at JLR must be still full of odds and sods

[@kizzyp2735]

I have the V6 diesel Velar on air suspension .....its a dream to drive . (proper leather seats)

[@stuchly1]

What's the point of a hybrid if the ICE cannot be used to charge the battery? That completely defeats the purpose of the combo power train imho.

[@theflyingD01]

I have that window switch in my jaguar xj from 21 years ago

[@Stormy177]

Perhaps invest in a gimbal? Some people complaining about the camera shake in the video, others liking the walkaround format - maybe that could please pretty much everyone?

[@Thanos.m]

I test drove the Velar when it came it out granted it was only the 4 cylinder diesel but it left a lot to be desired for my money its either the full size or the sort

[@AndyScott-g3j]

They do charge in save mode, I get a mile for every four I do on the motorway

[@andreasphotiou1886]

These exist to get the fleet average CO2 down and reduce BIK for company users. It feels like dieselgate style bending of the rules as they only do the claimed mileage under the test circumstances.

[@5amH45lam]

The absence of the recouping, charging-on-the-go feature - available with the Polestar, but not the Velar PHEV - is a HUGE oversight by JLR. It can't be anything but. Although, I bet you'll see it feature in their future PHEV vehicles, surely!

[@peterhurst]

That 3 seconds is a killer, I had a Lexus IS 220 and that was its main failing, setting off was dangerous in some places

[@evabrunson8413]

Excellent review

[@Fzr005]

Jay, don't like the shaky cam situation when you're walking around. Makes it hard to watch and listen at the same time. But love your work in general, hope you keep doing this!!

[@brownfamily67]

You completely misunderstand the user profile for Phevs. . You buy one if you do a regular commute & charge at home overnight and at work. . That way I get 90 mpg + without any range anxiety, If you just blast around not charging then mpg is far less - but thats not how a phev is intended to be used. .

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Why not just have a BEV in that case?

[@colinhare4722]

I have one of these and rearly use petrol. Charge it up on a night and use electric only on my short daily commute. It's solid, reliable and fun to drive. What's not to like!

[@JayEmmOnCars]

So, genuine question - why didn't you buy a full EV?

[@colinhare4722]

@@JayEmmOnCars simple answer... Because when I want to go somewhere on a weekend, I don't have to worry about range and charging points. Just works as a concept for me.

[@mikewallace1723]

Previously owned D300 in First Edition trim. Very luxurious as it had leather dashboard etc but agree about some plastics lower down. Reliable over 3 years. Comfortable but not sporty enough for me overall. So agree with your comments about pressing on driving. D300 typical mpg was low 30’s but 38 or so possible.

[@chriscampbell1309]

Love my diesel velar. Got the leather trim though!

[@penguin9976]

James , you asked about the new style of filming the interior. The walking around etc is fine but the jerky handheld camera makes me giddy. It reminds me of when some amateurs got themselves their first videocams and couldn't keep them steady for a moment - all panning and zooming and swinging around. Steadicams got invented for a reason. Maybe you could overcome the seasickness inducing movement by holding your handheld shots in one place a little longer before moving - not that I'm any expert. You are, so I guess you'll work out the best way of doing this.

[@Anirossa]

The best service person, ngl.

[@ifyouarefeelingsinister]

Dirt, Debris & Cheesestrings was the name of my first band coincidentally

[@acptelford1307]

How long before it’s breaks down or is recalled?

[@romainl.8066]

Good video, a bit too long on the cloth interior in my opinion! But get the fact it is annoying for car reviewers :) about the car a few things were not correct in the video. it does charge up when in SAVE on B and A roads, slowly. The hybrid system should always support the engine, but like any hybrid, suppose it won't stay in electric as much, and probably won't be as fast to protect the level of battery. For short journeys hybrids are great and apart from BEVs, you can't beat them on fuel even with diesel.

[@CarsofGlasgow]

Interesting video, reminds me of the Outlander PHEV when that would run around on its engine carrying the weight of the battery pack.

[@jonathancollard3710]

Get Disco 5 with excellent SDV6 at 306 PS. Lovely creamy engine, decent economy, bags of torque, tons of space, same infotainment system and with a Black pack / nice wheel combo, equal looks and dinner at the Savoy bragging rights. 👍🏻

[@saschabanton]

I like the style but please clean your lens! XD great video as always though (reminds me of the Honda Ellysion review you did a short while back)

[@backseatcovers]

E46s are all over Poland, if you're looking for a "slightly used one, but in good condition, only 150k miles", go pay us a visit. (Just kidding, they're mostly thrashed, a fine example is probably as rare here as it is in the UK)

[@markwilliams5654]

Only if you plug it in so u mite aswell buy a fully electric car

[@JelloTypeR]

It’s a good looking thing the Velar. I’d never need to own one as I don’t live in Chelsea.

[@theliberatorszen2916]

I have only seen 2 new Defender's and they were both in their natural territory - Hampstead! 😀

[@iainbogie3152]

What is the point of a Hybrid if it can't relaim energy under braking etc to rechage the battery???

[@amphilbey]

Enjoyed the video but really as with any hybrid they are massively usage style dependent - if you had a home charger and