- Munro EV - our first test drive
- Electric off-roader is forged in the Scottish Highlands
- No revs, no clutch, just traction
- Rapid acceleration in town
- Range of up to 170 miles
- Priced from £69,662 (ex VAT)
Scotland isn’t exactly short on rugged landscapes, so it’s fitting that one of the world’s toughest new electric vehicles hails from just outside Glasgow.
The Munro EV isn’t trying to be an SUV or a pickup for the school run. It’s an unapologetically brutal, purpose-built 4x4 created for people who do tough work in the real world (think forestry, power, rescue and remote construction), and it just happens to run on electricity.
Munro Vehicles started life in 2019 with a simple but ambitious goal: to build a fully electric 4x4 that could replace diesel workhorses in the harshest environments. “It started as a passion project,” says Munro CEO Russ Peterson. “We were out in the Highlands thinking, I wish there was something electric that could do this. Eventually we just asked ourselves, ‘How hard can it be?’”
Instead of electrifying an existing model, they designed their own from scratch. The result is something closer to a piece of heavy machinery than a car: a vehicle that treats torque, traction and durability as its priorities rather than comfort or chrome.
You don’t need to look twice to see that the Munro means business. Its flat aluminium body panels, exposed fixings, and scratch-resistant paint make it look like a mix of a Land Rover Defender and an agricultural trailer. That’s meant as a compliment. Every panel unbolts for easy replacement, and there’s enough ground clearance (an astonishing 480mm) to wade through a small lake.
Short overhangs help its approach and departure angles of 84° and 51°, respectively, while underbody protection guards against rocks and ruts. The whole thing feels bombproof, which is exactly the point. “We wanted to minimise overhangs because that’s what catches you off-road,” Peterson explains. “It lets you approach something that’s nearly vertical and still climb it.”
Munro EV - power and performance
There are two models: the ‘entry-level’ M170 and the more potent M280. Both use an 85kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery chosen for stability and longevity rather than lightness, and a single electric motor driving all four wheels through a traditional two-speed transfer box.
The M280 delivers 381hp and a meaty 700nm of torque, which sounds wild but is actually the key to its off-road prowess. With no gears to worry about and power that arrives instantly and smoothly, it can crawl up rock faces and through bogs with almost ridiculous ease.
Peterson says that’s where electric propulsion really shines. “Because you’ve not got any gears, you can really vary wheel speed as you need it,” he says. “Working in sand or mud is all about keeping momentum up — electric power makes that easier.”
We drove it on mud-caked, rutted tracks, through rivers, and up and down impossible climbs covered in mud, loose stones and wet grass. It was terrain that chews up and spits out lesser 4x4s, made all the more fearsome thanks to deteriorating autumnal Scottish weather, but the Munro just kept going.
Instant torque delivery typical of an electric motor is made manageable by a long, soft throttle pedal, allowing for precise control on steep slopes and in deep mud. The suspension sticks the wheels as close to the vehicle’s extremities as possible and provides huge articulation.
There are no drive modes to choose from, no dial to switch between sand and snow settings. All you’ll find is a lever to shift between high and low range, and up to three locking differentials. The rest is up to you, ably assisted by a machine that can tackle terrain where even the most capable pickup driver would fear to tread.
Nothing we found could stop us, bar a narrow gorge we physically couldn’t fit down. It’s a machine that feels unstoppable, its electric drive giving you fine control over every inch of progress. No revs, no clutch, just traction.
Munro EV - what is it like to drive on the road?
Just looking at the Munro tells you that it’s going to be less at home on tarmac, where its big tyres and bluff shape mean plenty of wind noise and bounce. But it’s entirely usable between sites, and will happily make a long journey on the motorway. You might not enjoy it, though.
The electric motor’s instant torque makes light work of urban traffic, and the ride, though firm, is never punishing. Treat it like a working truck rather than a car, and it’s absolutely fine.
And if you want a bit of fun, the M280 will hit 62mph in six seconds. Seeing a blunt object like the Munro smoke a BMW away from the lights will never get old.
Interior
Inside, the Munro feels more like a workshop than a car cabin. The floor can be hosed down, the switches are chunky enough to use in gloves, and the materials are designed to shrug off dirt.
There’s still a nod to comfort: heated seats, air conditioning, and a small touchscreen that handles Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. But beyond that, it’s stripped back, and a welcome change from the button-filled dashboards of most modern vehicles. You get the impression this cabin will still be working long after its owners have stopped.
Munro EV - practicality and load space
In its Utility form, the Munro seats five and offers 1,600 litres of load space; in Pickup form, there’s a one-tonne payload and a 3.5-tonne towing capacity. The chassis is modular, meaning it can be adapted for specific tasks — firefighting, agriculture, remote maintenance or rescue.
The compact footprint (4.59m long, 1.81m wide) is around 70cm shorter than an Isuzu D-Max and narrower than most modern pickups, making it ideal for forest tracks or squeezing through farm gates. Everything underneath is designed for quick repairs, with easy access to mechanical parts and removable battery modules for field servicing.
Munro EV - charging and running costs
Despite being built for the wilderness, the Munro is EV-ready for the real world. It supports 130kW DC charging, which translates to a 15–80% top-up in about 30 minutes, and 7kW AC for depot or home charging. Range is around 170 miles on tarmac, and that doesn’t seem too unbelievable following our drive.
Much more important to operators looking at the Munro will be that the 85kWh battery pack will keep the vehicle going off-road for around 16 hours. There’s 230 volt onboard power providing 2.5kW of energy. A bi-directional charger is in development, which will be more like a 16A workshop socket and will hold a lot of appeal for remote service workers.
Running costs are claimed to be around 60% lower than diesel, thanks to reduced servicing, cheaper energy and fewer moving parts. Munro expects each vehicle to stay in service for 20 years, which helps justify the upfront price — it starts at £69,662 (ex VAT) for the M170 and rises to £82,495 for the M280. That’s not cheap, but if it replaces several diesel trucks over its lifetime, it starts to look like smart money.
Munro EV - an electric vehicle with virtually no rivals!
You could make an argument that any pick-up is a rival, but even the Ford Ranger Raptor will fail to reach places the Munro can get to, and you’d be relying on petrol or diesel power. The Isuzu D-Max EV is on its way, with a similar 163-mile range, but it can’t measure up to the Munro.
An Ineos Grenadier will do well, but the 3.0-litre engine under the bonnet won’t appeal to sectors trying to reduce their CO2 burden.
The truth is, there’s no direct rival, with everything larger or smaller compromised in areas the Munro isn’t. “We’re filling the gap between a UTV and a Unimog,” Peterson says.
Munro EV - our verdict
That’s not to say the Munro is perfect. It’s not, and far from it. But it is a rare thing: a clean-sheet electric vehicle designed for real work, not just cultivating the driver’s image.
It’s not pretty, it’s not refined, and it’s certainly not cheap, but it’s brilliantly effective. For fleets, farmers and contractors who need to reach remote sites without a diesel generator in tow, it’s a genuine game-changer.
In a world of soft-roader “off-roaders,” the Munro feels like a breath of cold, Scottish mountain air.
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