British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has begun road testing prototypes of its electric Range Rover, in its first foray into building electric cars in the UK as it tries to catch up with rivals.

JLR, which makes the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, said it had opened a waiting list for pre-orders of the new Range Rover, its flagship vehicle, which is seen as a crucial step towards its electric future.

The carmaker, which vies with Japan’s Nissan to produce the most cars in the UK, has been relatively cautious in embracing electric vehicles. However, in April it announced a £15bn investment plan to upgrade its factories and launch electric versions its models, starting with the Range Rover.

JLR already sells electric cars, but its award-winning battery electric Jaguar I-Pace model has been built in Austria by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr since 2018.

In the following five years, JLR’s rivals have launched a series of luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs) such as BMW’s iX and Mercedes-Benz’s EQC, which compete against Tesla’s Model X.

The electric Range Rover is being manufactured in JLR’s factory in Solihull, near Birmingham, using many of the same tools as the existing Range Rovers, which are hybrids that combine smaller batteries with a petrol engine. The shared tooling will allow JLR to shift between electric and petrol hybrid versions more quickly if its plans change.

Batteries and electric drive units will be assembled at JLR’s plant in Wolverhampton.

The company has not confirmed the price of the electric Range Rover, and customers are registering to gain the option to purchase one when they become available. Prices for the diesel mild hybrid Range Rover start at £103,000.

Geraldine Ingham, managing director for Range Rover, said the model was “seeing the highest levels of client demand in our 53-year history”. The car is undergoing hot- and cold-weather testing in Dubai and Sweden.

JLR said the car will come with 800-volt charging, which allows much faster charging speeds when using the network of ultra-rapid chargers that are generally located on main roads and motorways for longer journeys. The company also said the Range Rover would be its quietest model, taking advantage of more efficient electric motors.

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Almost every major carmaker in the UK has revealed plans for all-electric models built in British factories, in a relief to many in the car industry who had feared the loss of factories and automotive jobs after Honda’s decision in 2019 to close its Swindon factory.

An important aspect of JLR’s electric plans had been out of its hands, as it waited for its Indian owner, Tata, to decide whether to build a battery “gigafactory” in the UK or Spain. Tata announced a planned £4bn investment in the plant, expected to be located in Somerset, in July.