The legendary Defender has certainly emerged into the 21st century with more power, refinement, and technology than its rather rudimentary (but still awesome) predecessor. Now, the Defender comes in a plug-in hybrid version that probably has devotees scratching their heads. The new powertrain takes a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine coupled with a 105-kilowatt electric motor that’s powered by a 19.2-kilowatt-hour trunk-mounted battery. If you think that sounds weak, think again. Combined horsepower is 398 that’s good for a zero to 60 mph sprint of 5.4 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph. It also happens to get 85.3 mpg on the WLTP combined cycle and an electric-only range of 27 miles. It’s for sale in the European market at about $85K USD, and we might just see it come here, too. Whodathunk you’d see the day when Defender had a cord? We didn’t see it coming.
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