2022 Range Rover Adds Third-Row Option, with Plug-In Hybrid to Come

• For 2022, the Range Rover will come in standard- and long-wheelbase variants with seating for four, five, or seven.

• Four-wheel steering is newly standard across the lineup.

• The 2022 Range Rover SE, Autobiography, and First Edition are available for order now, with deliveries next spring.

“Range Rover is not about radical change for the sake of it,” says Jaguar Land Rover's chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern. Despite the fact that a new Range Rover is a once-in-a-decade occurrence (significantly longer than the typical product cycle), the all-new 2022 Range Rover does indeed look immediately familiar. But the new Rover packs a host of innovations. Those start with the model's first ever three-row version, which at long last puts it on equal footing with competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz GLS-class, the BMW X7, the Cadillac Escalade, and the Lincoln Navigator. The seven-seat Range Rover uses the long-wheelbase body style and is expected to be especially popular in the U.S. market, where, Land Rover tells us, one in four existing customers have requested such a vehicle.

Both versions have added approximately three inches between the axles, with the standard wheelbase now 118 inches and an overall length of 199 inches, and the long-wheelbase version eight inches greater in both measures. The wheels are as large as 23 inches. McGovern characterizes the new Range Rover's design as "clean, reductive, and free from excessive line work." As before, the profile view features a gently falling roofline, a continuous beltline, and a rising sill line. Compared to the previous version, McGovern says the new one "is about taking out, not adding in."

To that end, the molding at the base of the windows has been removed, the door handles are flush-mounted, and there's flush glazing. Until illuminated, the taillights present as simple black vertical elements. Those flush elements, along with the new vertical creases at the rear corners, active aero elements, and a suspension that automatically lowers at highway speeds give the Range Rover a coefficient of drag of 0.30, an improvement of 12 percent.

Range Rover claims to have pushed the envelope in terms of luxury finishes, with the SV trim (which arrives with the 2023 model year) featuring ceramic knobs and switchgear (in white or anthracite), wool-blend upholstery, and marquetry wood veneers in a mosaic pattern. The SV offers two design themes: Serenity, with a copper-colored roof and matching accents on the wheels and grille surround, or Intrepid, with black trim and anthracite gray as the accent color.

The new Range Rover interior features a 13.1-inch central touchscreen that runs JLR's Pivi Pro operating system, which adds haptic feedback and includes Amazon Alexa integration as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Ahead of the driver sits a new 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster with a configurable display. The 1600-watt Meridian sound system, which is exclusive to the Autobiography and First Edition, includes active noise cancellation and boasts 35 speakers—including in the headrests. Perhaps the ultimate luxury: The optional cabin air purification system can filter SARS and Covid pathogens. Come next year, entering and exiting the Range Rover will be made easier by the optional new Power Assisted Doors, which also can be controlled via the touchscreen.

We poked around inside three pre-production Range Rovers: a standard-wheelbase First Edition, an extended-wheelbase SV with the four-seat interior, and a seven-seater. In the seven-seater, both rear rows are power-folding. The third row is genuinely usable, with 34 inches of legroom, and access is reasonably easy. It also avoids feeling like steerage class thanks to its padded armrests, USB ports, A/C vents, and seat heaters.

The four-seat SV, meanwhile, has a full-length center console from which a table motors up and swivels to serve either rear-seat occupant as well as its own 8-inch touchscreen. Its executive-class rear seats include deployable leg rests. An available rear-seat entertainment system features dual 11.4-inch screens, and there’s a refrigerated cool box in between the rear seatbacks.