It has been seven years since the Velar first landed, filling the “white space” between the compact Evoque and the imposing Range Rover Sport. Back then, it was the disruptor. It brought us flush door handles, twin touchscreens, and a design language so fluid it looked like it had been eroded by the wind rather than stamped by a machine. It was the “Avant-Garde” Range Rover, a vehicle that proved you could buy an SUV purely because it was beautiful.
But the automotive landscape in New Zealand has shifted violently since 2017. Jaguar Land Rover has undergone a radical transformation, rebranding simply as JLR and splitting itself into a “House of Brands”—giving Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar their own sovereign identities. The mission statement is now “Modern Luxury,” a philosophy that seems to be allergic to physical buttons and obsessed with serenity.
This brings us to the new Velar P440e Dynamic HSE. On the surface, it looks largely unchanged—a testament to how right Gerry McGovern’s team got the design the first time around. Look closer, however, and you’ll see the pixel LED headlights have been jewellery-cut, the grille refined, and the rear bumper smoothed out.
Is the Velar still the supermodel of the SUV world, or has the pursuit of minimalism gone too far? We spent a week with the P440e Dynamic HSE to see if the substance matches the style.
What We Like and Dislike About The 2025 Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Concept Car Styling Real-World EV Range DC Rapid Charging Air Suspension Ride Interior Serenity | The “Buttonless” Experiment Eye-Watering Price for its size PHEV Weight Brake Pedal Feel Gloss Black Fingerprints |
What’s In The 2025 Range Rover Velar Range?
For 2026, JLR New Zealand has streamlined the Velar range, focusing heavily on the “Dynamic” trim levels which bring the sportier body styling as standard. The lineup is split into three core powertrains: the entry-level four-cylinder petrol (P250), the potent six-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol (P400), and the plug-in hybrid (P400e).
1. Range Rover Velar P250 Dynamic SE
This is the entry point into the Velar ownership experience and the most common variant seen on Kiwi roads. Despite being the “base” model, the Dynamic SE spec is generously equipped with 20-inch alloys, the full Pivi Pro suite, and leather upholstery. It uses the Ingenium 4-cylinder engine, which is adequate for city driving but lacks the punch of the larger engines on the open road.
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder Turbocharged Petrol
- Power/Torque: 184 kW / 365 Nm
- 0-100 km/h: 7.5 seconds
- Fuel Economy: ~9.4 L/100km (Combined)
- Price: Starts from $129,000
2. Range Rover Velar P400e Dynamic SE & HSE (PHEV)
The Plug-in Hybrid is the sweet spot for the urban commuter. It pairs the 2.0-litre petrol engine with a 105kW electric motor. This variant attracts the most interest due to its ability to run emissions-free in the city. The Dynamic HSE trim (as tested) adds significant luxury upgrades, including 20-way massage seats, Matrix LED headlights, and an upgraded Meridian 3D Surround sound system.
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder Turbocharged Petrol + Electric Motor (PHEV)
- Power/Torque: 297 kW / 640 Nm (Combined)
- EV Range: ~51 km (Real world) / 64 km (WLTP Claim)
- 0-100 km/h: 5.4 seconds
- Price:
- Dynamic SE: Starts from $149,000
- Dynamic HSE: Starts from $162,000
3. Range Rover Velar P400 Dynamic HSE
For the purist who prefers mechanical muscle over battery packs, the P400 utilises JLR’s superb “Ingenium” inline-six engine. It features Mild Hybrid (MHEV) technology—using a 48V electric supercharger to eliminate turbo lag. It is smoother, sounds better, and pulls harder at highway speeds than the PHEV, though it drinks more fuel around town. It comes exclusively in the top-tier Dynamic HSE specification.
- Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cylinder Turbocharged Petrol MHEV
- Power/Torque: 294 kW / 550 Nm
- 0-100 km/h: 5.5 seconds
- Fuel Economy: ~10.2 L/100km (Combined)
- Price: Starts from $165,000
4. Range Rover Velar D300 Dynamic HSE (Special Order)
Diesel is slowly being phased out of the luxury passenger segment, but the D300 is still available for those who tow boats or do high-mileage touring. It offers massive torque (700Nm) and superior range per tank (approx 900km+).
- Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cylinder Twin-Turbo Diesel MHEV
- Power/Torque: 221 kW / 700 Nm
- Price: Starts from $160,000 (Inventory limited)
2025 Range Rover Velar Colour Range
Consistent with JLR’s “reductionist” strategy, the palette is sophisticated and leans heavily into high-grade metallics and greys, though there are two distinct blues that stand out.
Solid Paint (Standard)
- Fuji White:
Metallic Paints (Cost Option – Approx. $1,000)
- Santorini Black
- Varesine Blue
- Ostuni Pearl White
- Hakuba Silver
- Zadar Grey
- Arroios Grey
- Tribeca Blue
Premium Metallic Paints (Cost Option – Approx. $2,000)
- Carpathian Grey
- Charente Grey
For a full list of specs and options available for the 2025 Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE head on over to Range Rover New Zealand’s website.
How Does The 2025 Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE Compare To Its Competition?
In the cutthroat New Zealand luxury SUV market, the Range Rover Velar P440e Dynamic HSE occupies a unique, design-led niche that prioritises aesthetics over pure utility. While key rivals like the BMW X5 xDrive50e offer superior interior volume and the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid delivers sharper handling dynamics for a similar price bracket ($160k–$180k), the Velar counters with unmatched curb appeal and a “wafting” ride quality that is better suited to our coarser chip-seal roads.
Its market position is somewhat precarious; it is priced dangerously close to its larger, newer sibling, the Range Rover Sport, yet offers less physical space. Consequently, the Velar remains the “heart” choice rather than the “head” choice—it is the bespoke suit in a room full of high-performance hiking gear, appealing to Wellington and Auckland buyers who want the Range Rover status and serenity without the sheer physical bulk of the full-sized models.
| Make / Model | Engine | Power / Torque | Seats | Fuel (L/100km) | Towing (Unbraked/ Braked) | Boot Space (Litres) | Price (NZD) |
| Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid | 3.0L V6 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 346 kW / 650 Nm | 5 | 1.6 | 750 / 3,500 | 627 | $199,500 |
| Audi Q8 60 TFSI e quattro | 3.0L V6 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 340 kW / 700 Nm | 5 | 2.6 | 750 / 3,500 | 505 | $183,490 |
| BMW X5 xDrive50e | 3.0L I6 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 360 kW / 700 Nm | 5 | 1.2 | 750 / 2,700 | 500 | $174,900 |
| Range Rover Velar P440e | 3.0L I6 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 324 kW / 620 Nm | 5 | 1.6 | 750 / 2,000 | 503 | $172,500 (Est) |
| Volkswagen Touareg R PHEV | 3.0L V6 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 340 kW / 700 Nm | 5 | 2.7 | 750 / 3,500 | 810 | $169,990 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLE 400 e | 2.0L I4 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 280 kW / 600 Nm | 5 | 1.5 | 750 / 2,700 | 490 | $166,000 |
| Volvo XC90 Recharge Ultimate | 2.0L I4 Turbo + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 340 kW / 709 Nm | 7 | 1.8 | 750 / 2,400 | 262 | $154,900 |
| Lexus RX 450h+ Limited | 2.5L I4 + Electric Motor (PHEV) | 227 kW / 572 Nm | 5 | 1.3 | 750 / 1,500 | 612 | $144,900 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication; however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE
Even a few years into its lifecycle, the Velar is arguably the best-looking SUV on the road. Our test car, draped in Varesine Blue, looks like it was poured into existence rather than assembled. The flush door handles, the floating roofline, and the burnished copper accents of the Dynamic HSE trim give it serious road presence without the “shouty” aggression of some German rivals.
It fits perfectly parked on Oriental Parade or lurking in the corporate carparks of Wellington’s CBD. It’s elegant, expensive, and undeniably cool.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2025 Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE?
If you want to understand where Jaguar Land Rover is heading, don’t look at the Defender; look inside the new Velar. This cabin is ground zero for JLR’s “Reductionism” philosophy. It is stark, architectural, and undeniably beautiful, but it also asks a serious question: can a car be too clean?
Stepping out of the blustery Wellington wind and shutting the heavy door, the first thing that hits you is the silence—and not just the acoustic kind. The visual noise has been turned down to zero.
You don’t climb up into a Velar so much as you slide across into it. The seating position is the perfect halfway house between the “Command” view of a full-fat Range Rover and the sunk-in sportiness of a Jaguar F-Pace.
Our test car, being the Dynamic HSE, came fitted with the 20-way electrically adjustable heated and cooled massage seats. They are superb. Trimmed in perforated Windsor leather (though you can option the Kvadrat wool blend if you want to be sustainable), they offer immense support for long haul trips up SH1. The massage function isn’t just a gimmick; the “Pulse” setting is genuinely effective at keeping your back loose during a traffic crawl.
Visibility forward is excellent over that long, flat bonnet, but the A-pillars are thick—a common JLR trait that can hide pedestrians at roundabouts. You feel cocooned, thanks to the high waistline and the massive centre console that rises up to meet the dashboard, separating you distinctly from your passenger.
This is the elephant in the room. The previous Velar had two screens and two physical dials for climate. They are gone. In their place is a single, floating 11.4-inch curved glass touchscreen running Pivi Pro.
It looks like an iPad suspended in mid-air. The resolution is crisp, the blacks are inky, and the response time is smartphone-fast. JLR says 80% of tasks are within two taps of the home screen, which is mostly true. However, adjusting the fan speed or seat heating now requires looking at the screen, locating the small icon, and sliding a finger. On a smooth road, it’s fine. On the bumpy kiwi road, it’s a friction point.
There is a permanent “sidebar” on the screen for climate and volume, which helps, but I missed the tactile reassurance of a physical volume knob.
The “floating” centre console is a piece of art, but is it useful?
- Wireless Charging: Tucked away in a cubby under the main screen is the Qi wireless charging pad. It’s a bit of a “slide-zone”; if you corner hard, your phone will make a bid for freedom across the cabin. It also tends to cook your phone if you’re running wireless CarPlay simultaneously.
- Centre Console: The armrest splits in the middle (classic Range Rover style) to reveal a decent-sized cubby. Ours was fitted with the optional refrigerator—great for keeping a Red Bull cold, but it eats into the storage space significantly.
- Glove Box: It’s lockable and lined with felt, but surprisingly small. The owner’s manual takes up half the space.
- Cup Holders: Hidden under a sliding gloss black cover (which attracts fingerprints like a magnet). They are deep and grip a takeaway coffee cup firmly.
- Door Bins: Large enough for a 1.5L water bottle, which is a big tick for road trips.
The Velar is often criticised for being tight in the back, but the reality is nuanced. Legroom is adequate for a six-footer sitting behind a six-footer, though you can’t sprawl out like you can in a Range Rover Sport.
The “claustrophobia” factor is real, however. Because the beltline is so high and the windows narrow (the “chopped roof” look), smaller kids in the back might struggle to see out. Our test car had the Panoramic Glass Roof, which is an absolute must-have. Without it, the dark headliner and small windows would make the rear feel like a coal bunker. With it, the cabin is flooded with light.
Rear passengers get their own climate vents (and controls on the HSE), USB-C ports, and a fold-down armrest with shallow cupholders.
The rear window is essentially a mail slot. It is tiny. Thankfully, the Dynamic HSE comes standard with the ClearSight Interior Rear View Mirror. Flick a switch on the bottom of the mirror, and it turns into a high-res HD screen fed by a camera on the roof (inside the shark fin).
This is a game-changer. It gives you a wider field of view and lets you see clearly even if you have three rugby players in the back seat or luggage stacked to the roof. It takes your eyes a day to adjust to the focal depth, but once you do, you won’t go back to glass.
Pop the electric tailgate (which you can do via gesture control if you look silly enough kicking fresh air in a carpark), and the boot reveals itself.
- Space: You get around 503 litres of space. This is slightly less than the petrol-only models because the battery raises the boot floor by a few centimetres. It means there is no “lip” to lift heavy items over—the floor is flush with the bumper—but you lose some vertical height.
- Configuration: The seats fold 40/20/40, which is perfect for carrying skis or timber while keeping two rear passengers. The levers to drop the seats are located in the boot, which is handy.
- Spare Wheel: Here is the bad news. Because of the PHEV battery under the floor, there is no spare wheel—not even a space saver. You get a pump and a bottle of sealant (the “goo kit”). For rural NZ driving, this is a nerve-wracker.
- Loading: There is a button in the boot to lower the air suspension. This drops the rear of the car significantly, making it much easier for the dog to jump in or to load heavy boxes.
- Extras: You get a 12-volt socket, sturdy metal tie-down hooks, and a couple of small netted areas on the sides for loose items.
This is where the Velar justifies its price tag. The build quality in our test car was flawless. The shut lines on the dashboard were laser-straight, and the materials are top-tier. The upper dash is wrapped in leather, the headlining is premium suede-cloth, and even the plastics lower down in the cabin feel soft-touch. There were no rattles or squeaks, even on Wellington’s notoriously bumpy Hutt Road.
The interior of the Velar P440e is a triumph of design, but it demands compromise. You trade physical buttons for digital elegance, and you trade ultimate cargo space for that stunning silhouette. It feels expensive, calming, and special—provided you wipe the fingerprints off the screen.
What’s The Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE Like To Drive?
Push the start button on the dashboard, and… nothing happens. This is the hallmark of the modern luxury PHEV experience. The “Ready” light illuminates on the digital dash, and you simply waft away in silence.
Driving the Velar P440e is an exercise in duality. On one hand, it is a serene, disconnected sanctuary that tries to remove you from the mechanical process of driving. On the other, it is a two-and-a-half-tonne projectile capable of startling acceleration.
In our previous test of the older 4-cylinder P400e Velar, the transition from electric to petrol was always noticeable—a slight gargle and vibration that broke the spell. But this P440e (with the 3.0-litre straight-six) is a different beast entirely.
In EV Mode, which it defaults to, the 105kW electric motor is punchy enough to handle the Wellington Urban Motorway merge without needing to wake the engine. It hums up the Ngauranga Gorge at 100km/h with zero fuss.
But when you mash the throttle to overtake a logging truck on the Kapiti Expressway, the straight-six petrol engine joins the party with a distant, cultured snarl. The hand-off between electric and petrol is imperceptible. With 324kW combined, this thing moves. It doesn’t feel “hot hatch” twitchy; it feels like a heavy object being shoved by a giant invisible hand. It gathers pace with a relentless, surging quality that is deeply addictive.
There is no escaping physics. The P440e carries a heavy battery pack under the floor, and you can feel that mass when you tackle the tight corners of the Paekakariki Hill Road. Turn in, and the nose is willing, but you feel the momentum trying to push the car wide.
However, the Electronic Air Suspension (standard on this Dynamic HSE) is magical. It manages that weight superbly, keeping the body flat in corners while soaking up the mid-corner bumps that would unsettle a lesser SUV. On the open highway, it settles into a “wafting” gait that feels very nautical. You don’t drive over bumps; you float over them.
If there is a chink in the armour, it’s the brake pedal. Like many JLR hybrids, the blending of regenerative braking (which harvests energy to charge the battery) and the physical friction brakes is inconsistent. At high speeds, it’s fine. But in stop-start traffic along Lambton Quay, the pedal can feel wooden. You press it gently, get a little braking, press a fraction harder, and suddenly the physical calipers bite, causing a “nodding dog” stop. It requires a delicate right foot to master smooth stops.
The steering is classic Range Rover: light, accurate, but largely devoid of feeling. It’s designed for one-finger cruising, not apex hunting.
My biggest frustration sits right under your thumbs. The steering wheel buttons are “capacitive”—smooth black plastic surfaces that light up with icons when the car is on. They look incredible, but they are a usability nightmare. Often, I would try to skip a track on Spotify and accidentally engage the heated steering wheel. Or I’d try to adjust the cruise control speed and get no response because I didn’t press the plastic hard enough. In a car this expensive, give me a proper scroll wheel, please.
The Adaptive Cruise Control with Steering Assist is one of the better systems on the market. It tracks the white lines on SH1 faithfully without “ping-ponging” you between the lane markers. It handles the erratic speed changes of NZ motorway traffic smoothly.
Visibility is a mixed bag. The “Command” driving position gives you a great view over the bonnet, which helps you place the car on narrow roads. However, the rear window is essentially a letterbox. As mentioned in the interior review, the ClearSight rear-view mirror is essential here. Without it, seeing anything behind you is a guessing game.
JLR claims ridiculous fuel economy figures (1.6L/100km), which are theoretically possible if you plug in every single night. During my week with the car—charging it overnight but doing a mix of city commuting and a blast to Martinborough—I averaged 4.8L/100km. Once the battery was depleted and I was running on the petrol engine alone, that figure climbed to around 9.5L/100km. For a 300kW+ SUV, that is still respectable, but don’t expect Prius economy if you aren’t diligent with the charging cable.
The Velar P440e is not a driver’s car in the traditional sense; it’s too heavy and too isolated for that. But as a device for decompressing after a long day at the office, it is unmatched in this class. It turns the chaotic commute into a spa treatment. just be prepared to make friends with the touchscreen.
2025 Range Rover Velar P440E Dynamic HSE – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | Large, Hybrid SUV |
| Starting Price | $162,000 (Estimated NZD) |
| Price as Tested | $165,000 (Estimated NZD) |
| Engine Type | 3.0L Inline-6 Turbocharged Petrol PHEV |
| Engine Power / Torque | 324 kW / 620 Nm (Combined) |
| Transmission Type | 8-Speed Automatic |
| Spare Wheel Configuration | Tyre Repair System (Sealant & Compressor) |
| Kerb Weight | 2,350 kg (Approx) |
| Length x Width x Height | 4,797 mm x 2,041 mm x 1,683 mm |
| Boot Space / Cargo Capacity | 503 Litres (Seats Up) / 1,686 Litres (Seats Down) |
| Fuel Tank Capacity | 69 Litres |
| Battery Capacity | 19.2 kWh (Gross) |
| Fuel Economy | 1.6 L/100km (WLTP Combined) |
| Energy Economy | ~20.5 kWh/100km |
| Towing Capacity | 750 kg (Unbraked) / 2,000 kg (Braked) |
| Turning Circle | 11.9 metres |
| Warranty | 5 Years / Unlimited Kilometres |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – Unrated – Link Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – QZB362 |
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