Range Rover Sport Electric pushed to its limits by driving through 3,000ft peaks with sheer drops and steep ascents

The Range Rover Sport Electric is here, and Jaguar-Land Rover believes it may be an even better off-roader than its internal combustion counterpart.

To prove this point, the company took it to Italy.

But instead of dealing with sand or gravel or snow, they tested on a completely different – and very tricky – surface.

They tested it on marble.

This is a Range Rover first and foremost

When the electric Range Rover was announced, people thought along the lines of ‘it may be a Range Rover, but now it’s electric’.

But JLR wants to remind everyone that it’s the other way around: it may be electric, but it’s still a Range Rover.

Translated, it’s still great at off-roading. Which is the whole point.

And JLR immediately put its money where its mouth was by testing it.

And the test was not easy.

The Range Rover Sport Electric is a beast

The Range Rover Sport Electric delivers 550PS (542hp) and 609 km (or 378 miles) of range, but it also features a long list of aces up its sleeve.

It has an Intelligent Torque Management system that adjusts torque in milliseconds, delivering responses up to 100 times faster than an ICE Range Rover Sport, according to JLR.

It also features Enhanced Torsional Stiffness, which basically means the chassis handles abrupt, sudden changes of direction much better.

Furthermore, JLR believes that single-pedal driving – a known feature of EVs – can actually help you off-road.

Now, that’s all great, but the manufacturer decided that facts speak louder than words, which is why they took the car to Italy.

The reality of driving on… marble

JLR organized what they called the ‘Peak to Peak’ challenge, driving the vehicle in a marble quarry in the marble capital of the world: Carrara, Italy.

Most manufacturers choose ice, snow, dirt, gravel, slush, or mud to test their vehicles, but marble is actually a great option as well.

For starters, it is spectacularly slippery when it’s smooth and flat, and tricky to deal with when it isn’t.

Crushed marble dust and tailings are halfway between sand and gravel, creating a surface that’s very difficult to walk on, let alone drive on.

Years ago, Suzuki invited a group of journalists and media members (including yours truly) to test the then-new Jimny in a marble quarry.

On the way there, we drove through woodland trails filled with broken twigs, loose gravel, and steep inclines.

It was a walk in the park compared to driving on marble.

That is why this test was harder than it looks, and why we can safely say the Range Rover Sport Electric is a competent off-roader.

One last thing about marble: it is surprisingly tricky to wash out of clothes – and especially off boots.

I know because I made the mistake of wearing my favorite pair of boots, which were brownish.

They are beige now.