Land_e: a hybrid test bed
Imagine a Freelander with the economy of a petrol Fiesta or a diesel Focus. It ought to be possible with a bunch of technologies shown in the land_e concept.

Grim pun, clever vehicle: unlike other hybridised 4x4s, this one should actually be better on tricky surfaces than even this off-road-obsessed company's conventional vehicles. Did you know a Lexus RX400h isn't supposed to be off-roaded?

A rear hybrid electric drive motor is attached to the diff. It saves juice by acting as a generator when you're braking, recharging batteries. It then adds to the engine's effort for accelerating.

Cleverly, the propshaft can be automatically declutched at the rear motor end. On dry roads, it's disconnected and the vehicle runs in front-drive, cutting internal friction. To get 4WD, the rear motor spins the shaft double-quick so it reconnects smoothly.

Better still, when the prop-shaft is engaged, the rear motor can drive all four wheels from rest, before the engine cuts in. On the road that means more fuel saved.

Plus, on slippery surfaces, it provides far more subtle traction control than is possible with a conventional engine alone. And in a real sticky fix, the two powerplants have a better chance of grunting the vehicle out of trouble.

The engine has an additional micro-hybrid system. Instead of an alternator and a starter, one generator/motor does both jobs. Because it's so powerful it can restart the engine in no time, so the engine is cut when the vehicle stops for more than a second or so.

The generator's high power allows fuel-saving electric power steering to be used; otherwise the strains of off-roading make old-style hydraulics the only choice. Expect all this in a Freelander within two years.

Paul Horrell