Land Rover Range Rover Sport Electric review

The regular Range Rover is still a tall, glassy car giving you a vista over walls, hedges and other cars' roofs – the Sport is as well, just… less so.

Turn your eyes to the inside of the car and you've got, well, not a lot to see, at least if it's turned off. The fake leather and metalwork trims are beautiful. There are two slabs of black screen, one in front of the driver and one in the middle.

But as for what makes this recognisable as an automobile, well there's little beyond a transmission selector, the steering column and window and seat controls.

Power up and the screen system is beautifully rendered and has a haptic click, and Range Rover claims most functions take only two jabs. But we found it laggy and ambiguous in response to our touch.

There are no physical climate controls, although a simplified set of icons is permanently on the screen. And unlike the big Range Rover, even the central volume knob and the drive mode control (which handles both on-road and off-road modes) are on the screen.

This is madness for a car that lists sportiness and off-roading as primary attributes. When you see a nice series of bends ahead, or a tricky off-road surface approaching, you want to be able to change immediately how the car reacts, not look down and slide a screen slider.

Range Rover claims it learns a user's habits. We say it won't learn ours because we don't go to the same places all the time and the way we drive depends, even in a given location, on weather and traffic.

That said, there are useful controls on the steering wheel to quench the lane assist and speed bonger, as well as to reconfigure the driver display, set the adaptive cruise functions, and sort the track and volume. The instruments are straightforward and clear, and most models also have a head-up display.

Standard kit includes 20-way powered front seats, electric part-reclining rears, and bum warmers for four. It's unlikely anyone will grumble about the rear room, as the battery is fitted in without raising the floor. There's more boot space than many rivals too, although no frunk (under-bonnet storage).