Young, Scottish automaker Munro Vehicles has come a long way in its short tenure, hoping to deliver two versions of its 4×4 EV truck to customers soon. Today, the company has unveiled an upgraded production version of the M-Series truck, but is asking for a hefty sum via a crowdfunding campaign to scale production and initiate first deliveries of its packed order book.
Glasgow, Scotland’s Munro Vehicles is a new automaker taking a somewhat unique approach to EVs – going large with multi-ton 4×4 trucks. Less than five years old, Munro remains in its infancy, but has shown promise as a young British startup, hitting milestones along the way.
Today’s announcement regarding Munro’s M-Series EVs is an entire echelon above the rugged 2.7-ton, Humvee-inspired 4×4 we first got eyes on a mere year ago. Since then, we’ve seen Munro launch its flagship model – the MK 1 truck, which has been followed by a pickup version and most recently, as rugged “Mountain Rescue Edition.”
Munro continues to work toward fulfilling its prophecy of becoming the first vehicle manufacturer to reach scaled production in Scotland since 1981. The plan has always been to start slow and ramp up from there, but Munro has seen such an enormous appetite for its 4×4 EVs that its now looking to expedite the expansion progress in the UK.
Today, the company teased first images of the production ready MK-Series truck and its asking the public for nearly $2 million in equity crowdfunding to do so.
Munro asks for funding to deliver first 4×4 EVs, expand
This morning in Glasgow, Munro Vehicles shared the first three images of its production-intent MK-Series seen above – and it’s a helluva on upgrade compared to what we first saw a year ago. It’s also a lot more polished than the aforementioned MK 1 pre-production model.
If and when it makes its debut to customers, the M-Series EVs will come as either a truck or pickup, each complete with full-time 4×4 electric drivetrains. Furthermore, future customers will get to choose between to output levels – the “standard” M170 (170 kW) or the “high-power” M280 (280 kW).
The production-intent design features a sleeker, lighter front end, revamped body paneling that can be replaced more easily (especially when customers take these monsters off-roading), and an ‘exoskeleton’ that can be mounted on the hard top of utility specification models that allows an easy storage of equipment. Especially for some of the customer segments Munro says it is targeting, including agriculture, construction, disaster relief, mining, and defense.
Munro says it has also introduced more durable LFP battery packs that enable charge rates up to 130 kW, allowing for 30-minute charges on a DCFC, as well as a heat pump to more efficiently warm the EV’s cabin. The production version of Munro’s new 4×4 EV garnered 200 miles of range driving on a tarmac.
With 250 orders in place and production slots filled for the next two years, Munro also shared it is kicking off an equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. The Scottish automaker is requesting £1.5 million ($1.82 million) to fulfill its two-year order book, hire more staff, scale its production facilities in Scotland, and expand its available resources.
Munro cofounder and CEO Russell Peterson spoke at length about the company’s progress and its goals for the future following the funding campaign:
We have already had significant interest from the investor community and are extending that offer further to entrepreneurs, private individuals, and customers. We want to give them the opportunity to become part of the Munro story and take advantage of the unique solution our products provide and the significant imminent legislation-driven market opportunity the brand is poised to leverage.
Munro has paid reservations and sales agreements for eight pilot vehicles in 2023 and 221 production vehicles in 2024-2025. Our immediate priority is to deliver Series-M pilot vehicles to early-adopter customers to demonstrate our product-market fit. Our production spec deliveries will start mid-2024, and we plan to progressively ramp up production to 2,500 vehicles per year by 2027. So, with a full two-year order book for both the Series-M Pick-Up and the Series-M Truck, Munro’s Seedrs campaign will offer compelling investment opportunities, expedite our growth plans and unlock scales of economy.
Munro’s crowdfunding campaign is now underway on Seedrs and runs through October 31, 2023.
Author: Scooter Doll
Source: Electrek
