Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will not be able to use an electric version of his armoured Range Rover, citing technological limitations in blast protection.
In submissions to the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate consultation, obtained by the Fast Charge newsletter and reported by the Guardian, the company said: “The required safety levels and blast protection cannot be achieved” with an electric version and that it sees no “workable engineering solution” for now.
The Range Rover Sentinel fleet, which is believed to use V8 petrol engines, provides the power reserves required for moving heavily armoured vehicles in emergencies. The vehicles are built in Solihull before conversion by JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations division. The UK government also operates armoured Audi A8 saloons.
Armoured vehicles add reinforced glass, plating and bomb shielding weighing several hundred kilograms. JLR said the extra mass of battery packs complicates integration, making an electric drivetrain impractical.
The government is the primary customer for such vehicles, and current protection standards cannot be met with battery-electric models, the company added.
