Review of the Monroe - electric towing vehicle

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Orangehorse

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Farmers Weekly had an article about the Monroe, which is a new vehicle designed to be powered by electric battery and able to tow 3.5 tons and a payload of 1 tonne - so quite a beast! More or less a copy of a Land Rover, but with some better components.

Only trouble is the cost - £65,000 - but in the article it said that that compares favourably to some options currently on the market, and that it should last for years and years.

No real report of handling or ride, but it sounds interesting.
 
Orangehorse said:
Farmers Weekly had an article about the Monroe, which is a new vehicle designed to be powered by electric battery and able to tow 3.5 tons and a payload of 1 tonne - so quite a beast! More or less a copy of a Land Rover, but with some better components.

Only trouble is the cost - £65,000 - but in the article it said that that compares favourably to some options currently on the market, and that it should last for years and years.

No real report of handling or ride, but it sounds interesting.
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I didn't think electric vehicles were able to tow so that's very interesting.

But at £65K out of the league of most average 'shoe string' horse owners.
 
It does 150 miles on 1 charge without load. Add to that power-sapping 3 tonnes to pull and the miles are likely to be reduced significantly, rough guess @50 max? That may be too generous even - once significant load is added to batteries, they drain shockingly fast. Ok for travelling horsebox to local shows, and taking cow box to local farmer marts for farmers, but longer distances would need re-charge stops.

It’s a good entry for the 4x4 electric market, to show it can be done. As the power tech improves then they’ll be more practically useful.
 
It looks half finished! £65k and I’d at least expect it to look more complete.
Still think we‘re someway off a towing solution, but good to see attempts. But can you imagine the range anxiety with a live animal on your trailer?
 
Ok, so it has Defender bodywork but with a bonnet and front from a Humvee and currently has an expected range of 150 miles unladen and not towing.

But did nobody notice that these are prototypes, not road registered (would probably fall foul of construction & use regulations in its current configuration) and that the "reviews" in FWI and in LROI are based entirely on specifications provided by the manufacturer and interviews?

If this gets to market or will have a quite different looking front end and considerably increased range.
 
Fugly!

Rivian look far nicer and will be coming to UK soon. Towing capacity is close to 5,000kg but towing does cut the range in half. Stick to diesel until a viable alternative is available.
 
I started a thread about electric towing vehicles recently in which I asserted that I didn't think that EVs were in any way a viable option if you wanted to tow a horse. I was shouted down and asked where I had got this idea from - "of course EVs tow". But I still maintain that a £65K price tag and an expected range of 150 miles unladen and not towing, doesn't really cut it. Particularly if you live somewhere hilly (like I do). But at least it's a start!

I agree with @Nicnac about the aesthetic though - the Rivians (IMO) are really nice to look at. Just like a well designed truck. The Munro is a bit.....well I agree with Keith, it looks like they took it out for a test ride before the workshop were actually finished with it.
 
There's also the MWM Spartan, that looks unsurprisingly like a Lada Niva or an УАЗ-469. Lower load and towing capacity but will almost certainly be much less expensive.

Personally, I'd like to see the Munro in a body style more like the old 101FC or Pinzgauer.

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The Spartan looks alright doesn't it (although perhaps more of a safari design?)

Keith_Beef said:
Personally, I's like to see the Munro in a body style more like the old 101FC or Pinzgauer.
Click to expand...

This really made me laugh though (thank you!). Who do you think the target market would be? ? (other than you, of course)
 
The Spartan looks a possible option. I like their blurb:

Not everyone wants a high cost, high maintenance stallion. Some people need a workhorse, built for traversing all-terrain overcoming any obstacles in the harshest of conditions.

The ID of the EV car world? Well it would be if it went all day rather than 262km!
 
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