Munro stays in the box for electric four-wheel-drive pickup

Following the launch of a rugged electric 4x4 truck late last year, Scottish startup Munro Vehicles has now announced its second model – an "ultra-capable, ultra-utilitarian" boxy pickup. And the company already has more than 200 confirmed orders.

"We launched Munro to fill the significant gap in the market for an electric-powered, four-wheel-drive, utilitarian workhorse," said company co-founder and CEO, Russell Peterson. "Our vehicles are designed and engineered without compromise from clean sheet principles unimpeded by any existing architecture. The result is a rugged construction created for decades of service delivering ultimate, go-anywhere, off-road ability."

The Mark 1 Pick-Up is pretty much the same as the Mark 1 Truck announced last year, is likewise being built for at least 50 years of service, and is also being made available in Utility, Range and Performance variants.

The model that made its debut at the Fully Charged Live North show over the weekend was the Performance flavor in an eye-catching bright yellow finish, which translated to a 280-kW (375-hp) motor for 700 Nm (516 lb.ft) of torque, a full-time 4x4 mechanical drivetrain for all-terrain, all-weather driving, a sprint to 96.5 km/h (60 mph) in 4.9 seconds, and an 82.4-kWh battery reckoned good for more than 300 km (190 miles) per charge.

Scotland's only volume-production car company says that off-roaders could motor along for up to 16 hours before needing a top-up, and that a 100-kW DC charger will take the battery from a low of 15% up to 80% capacity in just 36 minutes.

The easy-load rear bed has been designed to take a 1,050-kg (2,315-lb) Euro Pallet payload – a little more than the Truck – and the Performance version has a maximum braked towing capacity of 3,500 kg (7,716 lb).

Munro reports that it has already received more than 200 orders for the Pick-Up, which has filled up the company's vehicle order book for both the Truck and the Pick-Up for the next two years, and also means that the search for larger manufacturing facilities in Scotland "to meet customer demand" has been stepped up a gear.

Pricing for the Mark 1 Pick-Up start from £49,995 (a little over US$62k), not including taxes, and the first deliveries to customers are expected to take place later this year.

Source: Munro