In news and blog discussions last week were claims and denouncements of a possible plug-in hybrid electric sport utility vehicle (PHESUV) being developed by Land Rover. It has been a while since Land Rover and “hybrid” were side-by-side in any credible news stories. In 2008, the English car manufacturer debuted a “diesel-hybrid” concept SUV at the Detroit Motor Show. Since then, nothing else on the matter has materialized although a report on their website indicates that Land Rover is still gauging public, dealer and media response. Based on the recent success of other luxury hybrid SUVs, my vote is for LR to send this one straight to production. 2013 appears to be the target, so again we wait.

Regarding the Land Rover PHESUV hubbub (bub?), it appears to have initially surfaced a few months ago on Edmund’s blog. Then last week, Tristan Young authored a post on Just-Auto.com. It included the following: Peter Richings, Land Rover’s chief engineer for hybrid technology, told just-auto the brand had a six-point plan for eco-technology - including stop-start technology extending from the current manual to automatic gearboxes - and varying levels of hybrid propulsion.

It went on to note that Land Rover is testing five “Range-e” plug-in hybrid electric vehicles based on their Range Rover Sport model and equipped with a diesel v6 engine mated to an electric motor. The Range-e PHESUV can apparently travel about 20 miles under electric power only and reach speeds of around 50 mph (without help from the diesel engine).

Several other websites and blogs picked up on this story, but no confirmation was offered by Jim Resnick (PR manager at Jaguar Land Rover North America) in his interview with hybridcars.com. Reznick’s quote on that site was less than encouraging, but probably the most realistic, “Introduction of the product is still a long way away. People should stay tuned.”. If you’ve followed green car news for any length of time, this comes as no surprise. We are used to being patient.