Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled its latest Discovery Sport, equipped with a 48V mild-hybrid powertrain. The OEM has also plans to add a plug-in hybrid system to the line-up later in 2019.
Designed with electrification in mind, Land Rover’s latest Premium Transverse Architecture (PTA) allows for the introduction of a 48V mild-hybrid powertrain. First launched on the new Range Rover Evoque, the system uses an engine-mounted belt-integrated starter generator to harvest energy normally lost during deceleration and stores it in an under-floor battery.
At speeds below 17km/h, the engine will shut off when the driver applies the brakes, before redeploying the stored energy to assist the engine under acceleration to reduce fuel consumption. Available across the range of four-cylinder Ingenium gasoline and diesel engines, the MHEV system delivers CO₂ emissions from as low as 144g/km CO₂ (NEDC equivalent) and fuel economy up to 6.9l/100km (based on WLTP test procedure).
The new Discovery Sport is one of the first in the Land Rover range to offer a RDE2 certified engine, ahead of their mandatory introduction in 2020.
The most efficient Discovery Sport model will be the Front-Wheel Drive 150hp diesel with manual transmission, offering emissions from as low as 140g/km of CO₂ and fuel economy from 47.8mpg (5.9l/100km). To maximize efficiency, AWD variants will benefit from Driveline Disconnect – a power transfer unit at the front axle that disconnects drive to the rear wheels under steady state cruising, reducing frictional losses and re-engaging AWD in less than 500ms.
