Scotland's Munro Vehicles Officially Launches All-Electric 4x4, the Munro MK_1

Scotland's Munro Vehicles, a manufacturer of all-electric 4x4s, has officially unveiled its first vehicle, the Munro Mk_1. Designed, engineered, and built in Britain, the Munro MK_1 is built to navigate the most challenging terrain and operating for up to 16 hours on a single battery charge.

The Munro Mk_1 features a 280kW electric powertrain, and it can accommodate an 1000kg payload and 3500kg towing capacity.

It is aimed at numerous sectors including construction, agriculture, mining, environmental, emergency rescue, remote infrastructure maintenance, and recreation.

Before its global launch, the vehicle was subjected to an intensive two-year test programme, tackling some of Scotland’s most demanding conditions in all weathers.

Munrio is Scotland’s only volume production car company.

In 2024, Munro will move into a new purpose-built factory in central Scotland, where production will scale to more than 250 units per year initially, leading to the creation of 300 new jobs.

The new site will eventually produce 2,500 vehicles per annum.

The company was founded in 2019 by Russell Peterson and Ross Anderson.

We had already taken measures to reduce our own environmental footprints and had a lot of experience driving our own EV, and got quite used to the instant torque delivery,” recalls Peterson. “But the off-roader we were driving through the Highlands was combustion-engined, and it was really struggling on the steep climbs. So, we were musing how much better it would be with an electric motor."

Munro CEO, Peterson, says: “On the return journey, we stopped at a café in Braemar, where a bank of 50kW rapid chargers were sitting empty and unused. Parked up nearby was a large group of combustion-engined safari adventure 4x4s of a type that are no longer manufactured and will have to be replaced eventually. It dawned on us that there was a gap in the market for an electric-powered, four-wheel-drive, utilitarian workhorse. We envisioned a vehicle with ultimate, go-anywhere, off-road ability, unrestricted by road-derived underpinnings that limit the all-terrain ability of vehicles such as the 4x4 pick-up trucks that have come to dominate the market.”

Munro Head of Powertrain, Anderson, adds: “With your average electric vehicle, the battery is designed to last the life of the car, so in most cases, customers will never have to worry about replacing it. But because the Munro is engineered to last several decades, we will either recondition or replace the battery pack for customers when the time comes. This has the added benefit of guaranteeing the future value of our customers’ vehicles. We will partner with companies specialising in reuse and recycling to recoup the residual value of the battery pack, which will enable us to fit the latest battery technology at a reasonable cost.”

The Munro is offered with a choice of two electric motors, 220kW and 280kW, along with the option of two battery packs, 61kWh and 82kWh, affording an optimum range of up 190 miles

This allows the Munro to operate off-road for up to 16 hours on a single battery charge.