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https://www.barrons.com/articles/introducing-the-land-rover-defender-90with-two-doors-01620411227

Would you expect a vehicle you just paid US$66,475 for to have rubber floor mats instead of plush carpets you can sink down into? You would if the car is the new two-door 2021 Land Rover Defender 90 First Edition, complementing the four-door 110 introduced last year. The 90 is the same rugged individualist, albeit with two fewer doors and 17 inches shorter in overall length and wheelbase. 

Jaguar showed the 2021 Defender 90, along with updates to the Jaguar XF and F-Pace models, at U.S. headquarters in Mahwah, N.J., on May 5. Journalists were able to drive all three cars, but on-the-road impressions of the Jaguars (which get extensive interior upgrades, plus exterior details) are embargoed until a later date. 

The 2021 Defender 90 was fair game, however, and around New York’s Harriman State Park it acquitted itself well in a blinding rainstorm. It was not quite the rugged off-road conditions the vehicle tackles with aplomb, but close enough. The rubber mats proved their worth coping with the mud that got tracked in. 

On pavement the 90 is like many other SUVs, although the 395 horsepower allows rapid acceleration. Visibility is good, except for a somewhat intrusive B-pillar. It’s basic compared to the other company SUVs, but still reasonably quiet and refined for highway cruising. 

In an interview with Penta, Rob Filipovic, JLR director of product planning, said that Jaguar will be an all-electric brand by 2025, and the first all-electric Land Rover (possibly a Range Rover) will appear in 2024. By 2030, all Land Rovers will have fully electric options. In the company’s home market, that could be right ahead of legislation. Great Britain plans to ban the sale of new internal-combustion vehicles by 2030, and hybrids will be off the table by 2035. 

But gas Land Rovers and Jaguars remain the vast majority of JLR sales in 2021. Only nine percent of Jaguar sales globally were of battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the first quarter of 2021—and total I-Pace sales in the period were more than 2,000. Mild hybrids are the biggest part of the mix. 

“There’s still an adamant group of consumers that wants internal combustion,” Filipovic says. “Everyone has a different lifestyle. For me, an electric is fantastic.” 

He says future EV Land Rovers, with the great torque available from electric drivetrains, will retain their off-roading and towing abilities. The current 90 can tow 8,200 pounds. 

The public seems to be responding to the new Defender, which has already sold more in its brief time on the market (16,000) than the previous generation (1993 to 1997) did during its entire time on the U.S. market. Those older Defenders have become iconic, and there’s a cottage industry equipping them with modern V8 engines. 

The 90 P300 starts at US$46,100, with an upgraded S version for US$49,400. The X-Dynamic S is US$57,800 and adds exterior design features, plus a hard-wearing synthetic fabric called Robustec to protect the interior from the ravages of a rugged lifestyle. The ultimate 90 is the X at US$80,500. Coming for both Defenders is a supercharged V8 with 518 horsepower, available with a new suspension in June. 

The powerplant in the P300 version is a turbo four-cylinder with 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Upgrade to the P400 and the engine is a six-cylinder mild hybrid, with an electric supercharger, twin-scroll turbocharger and variable cam timing. With 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, it can reach 60 miles per hour in 5.8 seconds. 

As tested, the 2021 90 First Edition achieved 19 miles per gallon combined (17 in the city, 22 on the highway). Even with the four (and minus those 17 inches) these are not fuel sippers. 

Cool features on the 90 include configurable terrain response, which allows owners to pre-program settings for conditions they know they’ll encounter frequently, then return to those settings with a button push. The 90 can be either a five- or six-passenger vehicle, depending on whether you order the smaller middle seat up front. A folding fabric roof is optional. 

JLR’s Land Rover brand also includes the Range Rover and Discovery. Among them, the Defender is tops for capability and durability. If buyers want refinement, they buy Range Rovers—which are infrequent visitors off-road. The Defender is comfortable on the road, but it won’t knock your socks off—it does that ascending nearly vertical mud paths. So what if the infotainment screen isn’t that big? 

Would you expect a vehicle you just paid US$66,475 for to have rubber floor mats instead of plush carpets you can sink down into? You would if the car is the new two-door 2021 Land Rover Defender 90 First Edition, complementing the four-door 110 introduced last year.

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