Yahoo Finance The 2024 Range Rover Velar Is a Study in Sophisticated Minimalism
A hangar-sized vault lined in acoustical cones doesn’t say much about a car. But when the subject in question is the 2024 Range Rover Velar, the silent space speaks volumes. The anechoic chamber at Land Rover’s global headquarters is defined not by its contents, but rather by what it lacks: sound. Contained by massive shock absorbing walls and soundwave-soaking surfaces, the space is designed expressly to weed out extraneous vibrations, hums and murmurs so engineers can focus attention on ensuring that the vehicle sounds exactly as it should—from the click of a volume knob to the burble of an exhaust pipe—while fine-tuning the car’s active noise-cancellation system to nullify road noise.
Introduced in 2017, the Velar features a stylistic approach not unlike the less-is-more aesthetic that defines a soundless environment. Launched under Land Rover’s more luxe Range Rover nameplate, the jaunty crossover took a decidedly different tack from previous models by featuring flush surfaces and an interior whose touchscreens and minimalist dials obviated the need for conventional buttons and knobs.
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The Velar was the lowest-to-the-ground Range Rover ever, aimed more at design-loving urbanites than drivers with off-road aspirations. The brand positioned the model “in the white space between the Evoque and Range Rover Sport,” leaning heavily into the self-described theme of reductionism: think less baroque luxury, more Scandinavian sparseness. A model launch in Norway drove the point home.
Now, Range Rover has finally released an update to Velar. Blame the pandemic, supply chain or economic challenges that only recently have turned around for the carmaker: Jaguar Land Rover went from a several million-dollar loss in Q3 of 2022 to a $326 million profit by year’s end. “We’re certainly back on track as a business,” says Richard Agnew, global director of Public Relations for Land Rover. Agnew credits demand for the recently revived Range Rover flagship and the long-awaited influx of semiconductors for the gains.
Now that Velar is finally getting some love, it might take eagle-eyed observers to spot differences between the facelifted version and the original. While the distinctive silhouette remains untouched, the grille and rear lower bumpers have been revised. And the headlamps feature sleeker matrix LED lighting. Inside, multiple smudge-prone displays have been replaced with a single 11.4-inch curved touchscreen, further simplifying the already spartan layout.
New seat designs maintain the option for leather, synthetic suedes or Kvadrat, a Danish wool blend that presents a posh, eco-friendlier alternative to animal hides. Cool in the summer and warm in the winter, the material now incorporates a diamond-herringbone perforation pattern. The latest model also adds new wirelessly updated software, improved cabin air filtration (capable of straining out pathogens smaller than the Covid virus) and the obligatory addition of new color and trim options.
A brief session in the passenger seat for a 147 mph blast on Land Rover’s test track reveals the smooth, quiet ride we’re familiar with from the Velar. But the more telling download comes from Massimo Frascella, Land Rover and Jaguar’s design director.
“How do you redesign a vehicle that is already so ‘designed’,” I wonder aloud after trading notes on Frascella’s other passion, watches (for the record, he was sporting a handsome Rolex Sky-Dweller). “When Velar came out, it made a huge statement and introduced this modernist/reductive design philosophy,” says Frascella. “Many people considered it a concept-car look. And yes, it’s difficult to go change it,” he posits, “because when you evolve it, you risk doing more damage than good.” Frascella describes the new, incremental improvements as “elevating the experience,” from the simplified screen and updated materials to the reshaped seats.
Frascella also emphasizes that the Velar’s “premium gap”—that is, the distance between the front axle and the dashboard that subconsciously speaks to luxury—remains untouched, as do the priorities of team members like designer Alexey Andreev. “For something to be truly luxurious, it has to be desirable,” mentions Andreev, while casually freehand sketching an automobile on a Wacom tablet. “That desire is a visceral feeling of wanting something—when you look at an object like, ‘Oh, I want to own that.’ It’s all based on emotions.”
That said, we can certainly quantify things we would have expected, or hoped, to see on the updated Velar—like an EV option for starters. But at the end of the day, Velar, at least for the time being, stays in that “less-is-more” category defined not by what it is, but what it isn’t. Like the hush of a quiet room or isolation from clutter, Range Rover’s Velar remains a supreme symbol of understatement.
Click here for more photos of the 2024 Range Rover Velar.
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