Hopefully an owner won’t have to get their new Range Rover TDV8 towed but if they do, be sure the person towing knows what they’re doing.  I first found out about this when the 2011 rotary selector was revealed.  I started looking up how the Jaguar system worked and found references to the “Emergency Park Release(EPR)” – then further searching showed how this worked on both the Jaguar XJ & XF explaining how to get the vehicle out of Park and into Neutral, until you reset it.

Here are the reasons for the EPR:

•Shift-by-Wire is now incorporated into the automatic transmission
•In the event of vehicle failure a mechanical means of selecting Neutral is now required, the EPR provides this functionality
•Failures that could result in the use of EPR:
•Transmission / Engine failure
•Electrical failure
•Recovery of vehicle -by towing
•When the EPR hand lever is operated the park pawl within the transmission will be released and will not be allowed to re-engage until the hand lever is released from its latched position.
•WHEN EPR LEVER IS PULLED VEHICLE WILL BE IN NEUTRAL AND WILL BE ABLE TO FREE WHEEL.

On the Jaguars. the EPR is located within the center console, on both the XJ & XF, you need to remove some small trim to get to it, but it’s not very hard to do.  Once that trim is removed, it’s just a matter of turning a lever.  Here’s how it’s done on an XJ:

And here’s the XF with the trim removed – the red arrow on the left side is pointing to the EPR

So anyway, I was waiting to see how Land Rover was going to handle it with the new setup – would they modify the center cubby or maybe something under the cup holders that could just pop out?

So finally the 2011 Owner’s Manual is released and it has all the instructions for using the new gear selector.  First thing I noticed are a few warnings throughout the manual but nothing on the EPR beyond this:

If your transmission is controlled with a rotary drive selector, the recovery agent
MUST activate the Emergency Park Release before towing commences.

NEUTRAL
Disconnects drive to the wheels. Use the parking brake while N is selected.
Do not use for vehicle recovery purposes.

Do not use rotary gear selector position P for vehicle recovery purposes. If your vehicle
requires recovery by towing, the recovery must be undertaken by qualified personnel. They
must activate the Emergency Park Release before towing commences. This procedure is
explained in a separate publication for service personnel.

So it gets more interesting, it appears you aren’t supposed to do this to your own vehicle.  And I guess they assume you’d be towed by Land Rover Roadside, and they should know what to do.

But I didn’t stop there, I went over to TOPIx, the Land Rover tech site and started looking around.  I found the document there and the process surprised me, and there they call it: “Emergency Park Position Release Lever”.  Now it’s possible there is a different way to do this, but from everything I’m reading you actually have to remove most of the center console trim that surrounds the transmission selector(Floor Console Upper Panel) – here you can see it with that trim removed and the EPR in blue:

So it does appear that you really do need qualified personnel doing this, that know how to remove the side wood trim then the floor console upper panel, possibly even a trim piece from the HVAC controls area & parking brake lever, all in at least 8 screws, before finally getting to the EPR.  Info is sparse on this, so it’s possible I’m getting something wrong, so please correct me if you’re in the know and let’s just hope no one needs to be towed!

Updated with new L322 information, 9/21/2012

Emergency Park Release System 4.4L diesel vehicles only:

The Range Rover Drive Selector is now incorporated with the automatic transmission.

• In the event of a vehicle transmission failure a mechanical means of selecting neutral is now available, an Emergency Park      Release (EPR) provides this functionality
• In an emergency, the EPR hand lever can be operated to release the park pawl within the transmission. The park pawl will not be allowed to re-engage until the hand lever is locked down in the closed position.
• Actuation of the EPR requires the operator to be seated in the drivers’ seat with the foot brake applied.  Turn the locking device 90 degrees anti-clockwise and lift using the pull strap.

Check that the EPR lever locking device is in the correct locked position:

• Remove the cup holders and the EPR lever cover by lifting upwards.

• Make sure the EPR lever locking device is in the locked position as shown.