Mysterious DBX prototype

[Sebastian Tombs]

I drove up the Stelvio Pass yesterday and as I walked from the car park two DBXs were leaving. The second had « Prototype Vehicle » stickers but looked standard and sounded like a V8 but the first had gaffer tape over the bonnet air vents and sounded very quiet. Maybe hybrid or full electric?

Anyone know what they might have been?

No time to get photos, sadly.

[Simpo Two]

I like the way they attract attention to the standard vehicle so people don't clock the prototype - except that PHers are smarter than that!

[LTP]

Sebastian Tombs said:

I drove up the Stelvio Pass yesterday and as I walked from the car park two DBXs were leaving. The second had « Prototype Vehicle » stickers but looked standard and sounded like a V8 but the first had gaffer tape over the bonnet air vents and sounded very quiet. Maybe hybrid or full electric?

Anyone know what they might have been?

No time to get photos, sadly.

The UK rules have changed over fleet vehicles, I believe. Time was if you looked up the registration of a prototype in camouflage the DVLA website would tell you the engine capacity - much to the annoyance of the OEMs. This has now changed. Similarly, I believe there were tax and VAT implications for prototypes. There are also a sub-set of the Construction and Use Regulations that do not apply to prototypes (if you're interested in the detail, see here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prototy...

To avoid confusion and to stop every car on the fleet being designated as a prototype, I believe rules now dictate that prototypes have to be clearly identified - although from a quick search I couldn't find any official mandate, so it may be voluntary but, as I live round the corner from a JLR facility and JLR are also labelling their prototypes, this implies to me someone in authority has had a word. Hence the stickers.

As for what the vehicles are? They could be anything. Once a prototype vehicle has completed its scheduled tests, if it's roadworthy it's often rolled back into the fleet to be available to have other prototype bits fitted for test and/or evaluation for future programmes. So it could be something as innocuous as a new rear vision system, all the way up to a complete prototype engine, gearbox and running gear.

edited to add
Needless to say, the Google AI summary hallucinated a requirement for labelling of prototypes based on some Reddit posts it appears to have uncritically consumed - my contempt for this technology grows. I'll abase myself before the AI gods if an actual mandate is found

Edited by LTP on Thursday 25th June 13:08

[Jon39]

LTP said:

The UK rules have changed over fleet vehicles, I believe. Time was if you looked up the registration of a prototype in camouflage the DVLA website would tell you the engine capacity - much to the annoyance of the OEMs. This has now changed. Similarly, I believe there were tax and VAT implications for prototypes. There are also a sub-set of the Construction and Use Regulations that do not apply to prototypes (if you're interested in the detail, see here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prototy...

Yes, I remember when we had fun here, after someone posted photos of a prototype.
As you describe, we could then look on the DVLA website, which revealed quite a few technical details about the secret vehicle.

I seem to recall that there might be an accountancy advantage regarding end of use prototype vehicles, but it possibly required destruction of the entire vehicle, even if still reasonably usable.