This Retro Truck Is The Electric Defender You Really Want—And Great Off-Road

• Top Gear tests the Munro M280 off-road in the Scottish hills, where it proves itself quite capable.
• This vehicle features a heavy-duty construction and a drivetrain that’s closer to a combustion 4×4 than many modern EVs.
• Munro says it has some 250 orders and you can put your name down for one today, although it’s not clear when you’ll get one.

There’s a growing number of electric vehicles that are doing off-roading better than combustion vehicles. You not only get to hear and smell nature without engine noise and exhaust fumes, but you also enjoy electric motors’ plentiful instant torque, which makes it easy to get over even large obstacles. So something like the Munro M280 looks like the perfect silent go-anywhere vehicle.

It’s from the Scottish company Munro Vehicles. While it’s still a small startup for now, the company is bringing rugged, almost military-like Land Rover Defender vibes to the EV space, and we’re into it.

Top Gear associate editor Tom Ford got behind the wheel of the M280 over some pretty challenging terrain to see if it can justify its surprisingly high price of $131,750 (£99,000) for the top version. He leads with the fact that he believes it’s worth the money, not only because it can conquer your nearby hill but also because it’s been designed with longevity in mind.

The philosophy behind it was to design a vehicle like you would heavy-duty machinery, not a typical car, which typically factors in the automaker’s desire to sell you a new model in a few years’ time. Munro says its EV isn’t like that, and that this approach is definitely very appealing for a certain type of buyer who doesn’t care what it looks like and who just needs the capability and the reassurance of heavy-duty construction.

Munro says it already has 250 orders for the M280, which comes in SUV, crew cab pickup and chassis configurations. It has a claimed “real-world” range of up to 170 miles and it can charge its 85-kilowatt-hour LFP battery from 15-80% in 30 minutes and promises up to 16 hours of “off-highway use between charges.”

While it’s designed from the ground up to be an electric vehicle, its drivetrain configuration is closer to a conventional combustion 4×4. Instead of having a motor powering each axle (or one for each wheel, like some off-road-focused vehicles have), its electric motor is located under the hood and sends its power to the wheels the old-fashioned way, through prop shafts and a transfer case. Just like a true old-school off-roader, it has three locking differentials to give it the maximum possible traction.

It features an axial-flux motor that produces 228 horsepower and 442 lb-ft in base trim, called M170, or 375 hp and 516 lb-ft if you pay extra. The top speed is 95 mph and whichever version you get, the vehicle is still has the same remarkable 84° approach angle, 51° departure angle and 148° breakover angle that of 148° that make it one of the most capable vehicles of this type, regardless of power source.

But does all of this really translate into remarkable off-road performance for the Munro? Yes, it does. Sure, its off-road focus does mean it’s a bit compromised compared to a typical SUV when driving on tarmac, but it really isn’t what this vehicle is about. There’s just something inherently appealing about a vehicle that’s this focused and good at what it’s been designed to do.