Jaguar Land Rover's Chief Commercial Officer, Lennard Hoornik, says that the Land Rover Defender isn't likely to see an electrified variant within this current generation. Rather, packaging concerns have forced Land Rover to push back the electric Defender while design teams work on a new model that will better accommodate an electric drivetrain,

The twin-turbocharged off-roader is headed for Dakar and the FIA World Rally Raid Championship starting in 2026.

Although an electric Defender is definitely in the offing, it will happen by the end of the decade on a different platform from the D7x of the current Defender

The Defender is the best-selling member of the JLR family, and the one that has been steadily gaining in popularity for the past five years—a rare occurrence in the auto industry, where models normally lose ground as they age.

Clearly, the Defender got the nod for its meaty 493bhp supercharged V8 (which gave it half a chance of sticking with the McMurtry on the straights) not for its body control, which if we’re honest isn’t great.