Land Rover 'Baby Defender' spied testing for the first time

The first spy shots seen here reveal that the overall styling will be similar to the bigger Defender, meaning a chunky and boxy design.

Land Rover is all set to launch a ‘Baby Defender’ 4x4 and it has now been spotted testing for the first time.  There have been rumours of the carmaker working on the project silently; it never appeared in any of JLR’s product roadmap presentations. The new model will be built on the new EMA platform for electric vehicles. This platform will also underpin the next-gen Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Velar and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The first spy shots seen here reveal that the overall styling will be similar to the bigger Defender, meaning a chunky and boxy design. It will, of course, have a smaller footprint, lower riding position and less off-road performance.

The decision to expand the Defender family into the compact 4x4 segment with a new EMA-based model was confirmed previously by JLR CEO Adrian Mardell, who said the “Range Rover, Defender and Discovery brands will come off that platform”. So it's likely that the smaller Defender might come in EV form only. It could get the ‘Defender Sport’ badging.

The EMA-based Baby Defender, in turn, will be a similar size to its platform-mates. It's likely to measure around 4,600 mm long, 2,000 mm wide and less than 1,800 mm in height.

The smaller Defender’s launch is reflective of JLR’s ambition to separate each of its core brands – Jaguar, Discovery, Range Rover and Defender – into four distinct product lines.

The new EMA-based cars will feature an 800V charging architecture and will be capable of topping up as quickly as any EV currently on the market, most likely with a peak rate of 350kW, while the batteries themselves, supplied by JLR owner Tata’s new UK-based factory, will have a significantly higher energy density than those used by the Jaguar I-Pace.

The new slimmer batteries will see less intrusion into the cabin, and will also give the SUV a raised ride height, something that the Defender is famously known for.

When it goes on sale, the ‘Baby Defender’ will rival the ‘Little G’ from Mercedes-Benz, the smaller version of the popular G-Class SUV.

Source: Autocar UK