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.
Credit: Munro Vehicles
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.
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Packing up to 852 hp and a cutting-edge technology stack developed by Huawei, Chinese luxury brand Maextro just revealed its latest entry into the Mercedes-Maybach EQS and Rolls-Royce Spectre segment of ultra-luxe EVs. Meet the all-new Maextro S800.
Despite a somewhat steady stream of new Chinese EVs that defy expectations and threaten to re-set the global order of performance cars, semi trucks, and just about everything in between, brands like Maybach, Rolls-Royce, and even Bentley have seemed relatively “safe,” in the sense that their value is based on something a bit less objective than lap times or kW/mile.
The shimmering, sparkly, fiber-optic headliner was pioneered by Rolls-Royce over a decade ago, pushing back against the more open and accessible glass-roofs that were becoming popular in the higher end market. Huawei goes a step further, adding similar, Swarovski-like shimmer to not just the headliner – but the door handles, the headlights, projections dancing around the car as you approach it in the street.
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It looks and feels special, in other words. And these cars are all about making their owners feel special. Different.
When Henry Rolls began work on his first US factory in Springfield, Massachusetts way back in 1919, there was supposedly a mantra that management repeated to the workers. It went, “every time you touch the car, you add cost. Make sure you add value.”
I’m not here to argue that Huawei is living up to the same maxim with the Maextro, but I am here to argue that this car’s bespoke, purpose-built platform doesn’t share any parts with a lesser offering from the Mercedes or BMW or Volkswagen lineup in the way that a Maybach, Rolls-Royce, or Bentley does. That may not mean much to you and me, but the people shopping six- and seven-figure cars, it might.
Those well-heeled buyers will get a choice of EREV or “pure” battery electric powertrains good for between 480 and 852 all-electric horsepower. 32 ADAS sensors including both radar and lidar compliment a suite of cameras analyze the road ahead and feed data to Huawei’s ADS road perception system, which is constantly adjusting torque distribution, suspension compression and rebound, and front and rear steering to deliver a tech-driven chauffeur experience that Huawei insists is second to none.
That digital chauffeur is also pretty handy when the weather goes sideways, too. Huawei says the Maextro’s sensor array can help it to increase the detection distance in rain, fog, and dust by 60% compared to the benchmark, while delay was reduced by 40%.
In the event a collision is unavoidable, the car can adjust its stance, seating position, raise the windows, and unlock the central control lock to enable outside help to open the doors. Following the collision, the Maextro S800 switches the redundant power supply and calls for help, as well.
Finally, reports indicate that the Maextro S800 supports the 800V high-voltage system in some trims, suitable for 6C charging, which means it can be energized with up to 390 kW of charging power, taking just 10.5 minutes to charge the 66 kWh battery in the EREV version (523 hp) from 10% to 80%.
The Maextro S800 will enter the Chinese in May this year with a price range of 1 – 1.5 million yuan (about $135–205,000 US).
Volvo Penta will debut its latest modular and scalable battery energy storage system (BESS) platform for the off-grid construction and mining industries at the bauma equipment show – here’s what you can expect.
Best-known for its marine engines and gensets, Volvo Penta is the power production arm of the Volvo Group, specializing in putting energy to work. Operating under the tagline, ‘Made to Move You’, Volvo Penta is headed to bauma 2025 with a plan to keep construction, port shipping, and mining operations moving productively and competitively throughout their transitions to battery and (in theory, at least) hydrogen power.
To that end, the company will show off a job site ready version of the scalable and modular BESS subsystem concept shown last year.
Volvo says its new, modular BESS subsystem will enable other OEMs and third party system integrators to seamlessly deploy electric power to meet the ever-exceeding energy needs in construction and mining.
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“Our modular and scalable battery-electric platform is designed to support the electrification ecosystem—combining high-performance drivelines with the crucial energy storage subsystems for efficient charging and operation in construction and mining,” says Hannes Norrgren, President of Volvo Penta Industrial. “We want to meaningfully collaborate with our customers on value-added customization that will enable them to stay productive, efficient, and future-ready.”
The Penta substation at bauma will be built around the company’s “Cube” battery pack, an energy-dense solution with a favorable C-rate designed to make it easy for BESS manufacturers to offer more compact job site solutions capable of charging and discharging energy with high levels of speed and efficiency, enabling both stationary and mobile BESS configurations that can change and grow to meet the evolving needs of a given asset fleet or project.
A Volvo Penta-developed DC/DC unit converts the voltage from the Cube battery packs (600 V) into lower voltage (24 V) for powering auxiliaries and portable offices.
Electrek’s Take
BESS concept packed with Penta Cube batteries; via Volvo.
Volvo Penta has always provided power. Historically that’s been from combustion, but the company is looking ahead, developing products that will bring energy to job sites, tractors, and more long after the last ICE engine shuts down.
Just days after Rivian announced that it would be making its iconic electric delivery vans available to anyone willing to pay for one, the company launched the new Rivian Upfit Program, offering a “one-stop shop” to help fleet managers put its EVs to work.
Launched in partnership with commercial vehicle heavyweights Ranger Design, Sortimo of North America, Bush Specialty Vehicles, Holman, LEGEND, and EV Sportline, the Rivian Upfit Program helps fleet buyers make the switch to electric by simplifying the ordering process and delivering an experience that more closely reflects the experience fleet managers get at dealerships.
Despite partnering with leading brands and launching into a well-establish market, however, the program’s web page seems largely aimed at people outside the space – even kicking off with an explanation of what upfitting is:
Upfitting is the process of customizing a vehicle in order to meet fleet, business, or individual consumer needs to tackle the job at hand. This work is done after the vehicle has been built and released from the factory, and can include everything from shelving modifications, flooring options, to sirens and flashers and much more.
The program was announced on LinkedIn with a number of photos indicating upfit options for Rivian’s R1T and R1S vehicles focused on lifeguard and roadside assistance duty, and Rivian’s van upfit with a HVAC/telecom style toolbox arrangement.
That same competitiveness has led to talented fleet managers at those franchise dealers putting in the effort to get to know the needs of the businesses and buyers in their regions, to understand what upfit options makes sense for their local markets, and – crucially – what to stock for quick turnaround when their customers need it.
Rivian is hoping its upfit partners will do a lot of that heavy lifting for them, but my two cents is that if building cars is hard, building relationships is harder, and Rivian isn’t going to make a good first impression by talking down to its customers. If you think differently, let me know how I got it wrong in the comments.