Official: Land Rover’s Silk Road journey is world’s first hybrid expedition [w/video]

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, China, Europe, Videos, Land Rover, India, Diesel, Luxury, Off-Road

Land Rover has just completed a wildly ambitious, 10,472-mile journey from its Solihull, UK factory to the home of its parent company, Tata, in Mumbai, India with a trio Range Rover Diesel Hybrid prototypes. The epic journey, known as Silk Trail 2013, took a total of 53 days, and saw the team cross 13 countries along the way.

For a large portion of the journey, the team traveled along the historic Silk Road, a series of trading routes pioneered first by the Chinese, but known mainly to the western world thanks to the travels of Venetian trader Marco Polo. Somehow, we imagine the journey in the Range Rovers was faster and more comfortable than either the Chinese or Polo could have ever imagined.

But simply because the Silk Trail team was hurtling through the countryside in a very comfortable off-roader doesn’t mean it was an easy trek. Between the three Range Rovers, there were 15 flat tires along the way, and the drivers and support staff spent a full week at altitudes of over 11,000 feet, going as far up as 17,648 feet.

Through it all, the team collected over 300 gigabytes of tech info on the performance of the three prototypes, and returned a reported 36 to 37 miles per gallon between the three Range Rovers (measured on the UK cycle, we imagine).

Jaguar Land Rover Director of Hybrids and Electrification, Peter Richings, said of the trek, “In developing the hybrid-powered Range Rover, our objective was to gain hybrid’s fuel economy and carbon emissions advantages without compromising the Range Rover’s go-anywhere capabilities, its cabin space or its refinement. The success of this remarkable expedition clearly demonstrates we have achieved that.”

Hop up top for some images of the journey, most of which look better suited for National Geographic than these humble digital pages. There’s also a detailed press release from Land Rover down below, as well as an accompanying video.

Continue reading Land Rover’s Silk Road journey is world’s first hybrid expedition [w/video]

Land Rover’s Silk Road journey is world’s first hybrid expedition [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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