The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scaling the Munro in UK prototype 4x4 EV
Say hello to the Munro – the first fullyelectric 4x4 designed and built in the UK... and it’s Scottish. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the iconic Land Rover Defender but it is an individual beast, and will come with enough charge to put in a full day’s work in the toughest conditions.
The creation of this sturdy Scots off-roader started with a camping holiday in the Highlands which, for most of us, would normally be a relaxing affair and the chance to take a fresh air break.
But for entrepreneurial pair Russ Peterson and Ross Anderson their chance to recharge their batteries got them thinking about exactly that.
And no doubt the mountainous scenery gave them the inspiration for the name of their idea of a rugged, electricallypowered, 4x4 aimed directly at the farming, forestry and mining industries which rely on all-terrain vehicles for their daily business.
The Munro Mark 1 will literally plug the gap left by the demise of the iconic Land Rover Defender but bringing it bang up-to-date, replacing the internal combustion engine with a full electric powertrain.
That comprises a 52kwh battery pack and an AC motor with an impressive 215bhp of power and a useful 350Nm of torque which, under normal driving conditions provides a maximum range of 150 miles on a full charge.
That may not seem much. However, with lower speed off-road country driving the Munro team believes that could provide around 50 hours of operation.
This means a farmer checking crops, moving livestock or repairing fences shouldn’t have to recharge at all during a working day.
DC rapid charging comes as standard, meaning the battery can be topped up to 80% capacity in just 30 minutes.
The creators originally thought of converting a conventional Land Rover to electric, but soon decided the best direction was to build a completely new vehicle instead.
The Munro will be the first fully-electric 4x4 designed and built entirely in the UK.
Russ Peterson previously set up a successful software development agency in
Edinburgh and built off-road vehicles as a hobby for many years.
Ross Anderson originally trained as a radiographer. With an interest in sustainability and physics, his responsibility is the Munro’s performance, traction, energy storage and charging systems.
The two have gathered a team of experts at the East Kilbride base of their All Terrain All Electric (ATAE) company and have been given a £750,000 investment by Elbow Beach Capital, which backs sustainability and social impact enterprises.
They believe there
are opportunities to decarbonise vehicle fleets in the UK’S mining, forestry and agriculture industries where, currently, there are more than 220,000 farms and 2,000 active mines using off-road vehicles as a crucial part of their operations.
Elbow’s investment has helped develop a prototype which they say has been “incredibly impressive” in its versatility and performance in challenging conditions.
The final production version will cost £65,000 plus VAT, and sales and service will all be handled online without a dealer network. The order book is already open with first deliveries expected in mid2023 with an international roll-out two years later.
The Munro certainly looks tough with a rugged body and basic ladder galvanised chassis, live front and rear axles, permanent four-wheeldrive, locking differentials and a two-speed transfer gearbox.
It uses existing, readilyavailable brake and suspension parts from UK manufacturers, rather than designing new ones, which means maintenance should be easy while minimising the carbon footprint and supporting the UK economy.
An off-road testing programme is well under way.
The company says production will start next year, with plans to initially build 50 vehicles a year, rising to 1,000 annually and up to 5,000 a year at full capacity by 2030, creating around 300 jobs in the process.
Final details of the vehicle are still to be confirmed.
However, it’s likely to be a five-seater with a wipedown dashboard and chunky buttons, optional extras like roof racks, underbody protection panels, upgraded suspension and larger offroad tyres – and there’s even the chance of a sixwheeled version.
It will have a maximum payload of 1,000kg and more than 1,250 litres of cargo space, which is big enough for a pallet.
Russ Peterson believes EVS are naturally bestsuited to country lifestyles and lower speed driving which uses less energy than motorway cruising.
And he says most rural businesses can easily install chargers to power up the vehicle overnight.
So why have some of the major manufacturers not gone down this off-road EV route?
Russ says: “The perceived market is too small for large-scale production and needs a dedicated niche company truly focused on specific customer demands.
“We’ll be a niche vehicle builder but by using existing supply chains we can keep costs at a reasonable level,” he adds.
The Munro is certainly going to appeal to farmers, and 4x4 enthusiasts are likely to follow.
Munro may have a mountain to climb, but its already taking some big steps on the way up.