Munro EV: The Electric 4WD That Actually Understands What Off-Road Means

Most electric 4WDs are not 4WDs. They are AWD cars with high ride heights, good marketing, and more torque than a diesel engine. That’s not an insult - many of them are excellent vehicles for the conditions 99% of buyers encounter. But if you push them to the kind of terrain where a LandCruiser’s low-range transfer case earns its existence, they start to show the limits of the “two electric motors, one per axle” approach.

The Munro ONE is different. It is designed by people who understood that the architecture of a capable off-road vehicle is not incidental - it’s the point - and who chose to build an electric vehicle around that architecture rather than bolt off-road branding onto a road car.

What Munro Vehicles Actually Built

Munro Vehicles was founded in Scotland in 2019 by Russell Peterson, who reportedly drew inspiration from classic Land Rover engineering philosophy. The Munro ONE is built on a steel ladder-frame chassis with solid front and rear axles. This is the same underlying architecture as a Defender 90 from the 1980s or a classic LandCruiser 70 Series - the layout that has proven itself across every serious off-road application from Antarctic expeditions to Kimberley station roads for decades.

Solid axles mean better articulation than independent suspension on extreme terrain, because both wheels can move independently of each other without the geometry compromises that IFS introduces at full droop. Ladder chassis means the body and frame loads are separated - the frame takes the twisting and the body doesn’t crack. For serious off-road use, these are not nostalgic preferences. They are engineering choices that matter.

The electric drivetrain produces around 150 kW (varying by specification) and is mated to a mechanical transfer case with high and low range. This is the detail that separates the Munro from virtually every other EV marketed as capable off-road: you can actually engage low range, which multiplies torque for low-speed technical terrain and allows precise speed control on steep descents independently of the accelerator pedal.

Battery capacity is 80 kWh in the standard configuration, with an optional extended pack reportedly in development. The vehicle supports CCS2 DC fast charging, with a maximum DC input rate of 50 kW in current production. That’s slower than the 100–150 kW rates of mainstream consumer EVs, but for off-road expedition use - where you’re most likely charging from portable solar rather than a fast charger network - charge rate is less critical than total capacity.

Ground clearance exceeds 300 mm. Wading depth is rated at 800 mm, with IP67 protection on the drive electronics. Approach and departure angles suit genuine off-road use rather than being optimised for kerb-hopping.

The Comparison That Matters

The vehicle that the Munro most directly competes with - in terms of what it can actually do in the field - is the LandCruiser 70 Series. Both are body-on-frame, solid axle, mechanically straightforward vehicles designed for work in remote and difficult terrain. The 70 Series has diesel reliability, globally available parts, and a proven track record across every continent. The Munro has zero emissions, massively simpler drivetrain (electric motors have far fewer moving parts than a diesel engine), and instant torque delivery.

The argument for the 70 Series in remote Australia is the same it’s always been: if something breaks 400 km from the nearest town, a diesel engine with carburettor can be jury-rigged back to functionality with parts from a hardware store and the right YouTube video. A failed power electronics module in an EV cannot.

The argument for the Munro, made honestly, is that electric drivetrains are dramatically less likely to fail in the first place. A brushless electric motor has no oil to change, no timing chain to skip, no fuel injectors to block with contaminated diesel from a remote roadhouse. The mechanical simplicity argument cuts both ways: electric drivetrains have fewer failure modes because they have fewer parts.

That doesn’t eliminate the remote breakdown risk - battery management systems, inverters, and high-voltage wiring can all fail - but the failure probability per kilometre is genuinely lower than for a comparable diesel vehicle.

The Range Reality Check

Munro’s stated WLTP range of approximately 280 km from 80 kWh is a reasonable highway figure. Off-road, the number that matters is different.

Using consumption patterns documented across off-road EV owners on comparable terrain, an 80 kWh battery translates to:

• Soft sand (aired down, 30–50 km/h): 125–160 km per charge - rolling resistance is the dominant load here, not speed
• Corrugated dirt road (50–70 km/h): 180–230 km per charge - more manageable, closer to what station tracks and the Gibb’s graded sections look like
• Mixed outback track: 150–190 km per charge - the realistic planning figure for a route like the Kimberley

For the Canning Stock Route specifically - 1,850 km of predominantly sand and corrugations - a daily target of 100–120 km would require 15–18 days on the route with solar recharging required every day. That’s longer than a typical diesel expedition, and it fundamentally changes the nature of the trip: you’re not racing to cover distance, you’re constrained by the sun. Whether that’s a problem depends entirely on why you’re going.

For the Kimberley or other semi-remote Australian outback routes where distances between waypoints are shorter and the character of the track is less extreme, the range figures are more workable.

How to Get One in Australia

The Munro ONE is not sold through an Australian dealer network. Acquiring one requires private import, which in Australia follows one of two pathways:

SEVS (Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme): The main pathway for low-volume specialised vehicles. The Munro ONE qualifies because it’s not commercially available here and is produced in right-hand drive (a mandatory prerequisite). SEVS compliance involves importing the vehicle, having it inspected and modified to Australian standards by an approved engineer, and registering it. Add $30,000–$60,000 to the base UK price for compliance, freight, and duties.

RAW (Register of Approved Vehicles): A simpler pathway for vehicles selling fewer than 100 units per year in Australia. Lower compliance cost than SEVS but the same overall import process. More appropriate if Munro ever begins selling modest volumes here directly.

Combined with the base vehicle price of approximately AUD $110,000–$135,000, a landed and complied Munro ONE in Australia likely sits at $150,000–$180,000 all-in. That is not a mainstream purchase, but it is in the range of what serious expedition-capable diesel vehicles cost when fully equipped and prepared for remote Australia.

Munro Vehicles has a contact and enquiry process through their website, and reportedly responds to serious enquiries from Australian buyers. Given the company’s stated ambition to expand beyond the UK market, a formal Australian distribution arrangement is plausible in the medium term.

The Honest Assessment

The Munro ONE is a genuine off-road vehicle built on the right architecture for serious work. It is not the most efficient way to travel to work, it is not the cheapest EV you can buy, and it will not satisfy anyone whose primary concern is WLTP range or 0–100 km/h time.

What it is: the most honest attempt yet to build an electric vehicle that would actually survive the same conditions a LandCruiser is expected to handle, using the same fundamental mechanical philosophy that made those vehicles capable. The solid axle, low-range transfer case, and 300mm-plus ground clearance are not compromises - they are the reason the vehicle exists.

For the subset of Australian buyers who spend serious time in genuine remote terrain, do it regularly enough to make the economics tolerable at the price point, and are interested in an EV that reflects the architecture of their current vehicle rather than a road car with inflated ride height, the Munro is worth a serious look. There isn’t much else like it.