SCOTTISH POWER

Still mourning that old Defender?The Munro EV is a Glaswegian off roader that's built to last

- TOM FORD

The foot high step down wasn't obvious, seeing as it was already under three feet of water. But as the bonnet of the Munro submarines and the car starts to float with all four wheels now operating as rotary paddles rather than gripping the mucky lakebed, there's a flash of regret, widened eyes and immediate panic. But with a scrabble and crunch, the front wheels torque themselves onto... something, and the Munro yanks itself up the opposite bank, dragging a torrent of stinky, muddy water with it. A more thorough test of what a car can usually manage; I'm not usually worried about drowning on my commute.

Luckily, this isn't a car. It's a bulldozer. Or a telehandler. Or, if you're being creative, a combine harvester. The Munro is all of those things, and somehow none. Because although it can't competently harvest winter wheat or forklift a pallet of fertiliser, it's an electric 4x4 that's supposed to be treated more like plant equipment than a normal SUV. It can quite happily manage the regular road network – unlike a lot of construction equipment – but it's also designed with a sense of the longevity, repairability, capability and simplicity of something way more industrial. To thrive in the harsher environments of forestry, agriculture, mining, a concept that includes lasting for two or three times the usual duty cycle of the average pickup. Which makes for a car that's been subject to a heavy redaction in terms of what's useful and what's not, a considered filleting of the hardware. Mainly because you don't need a 14-inch touchscreen and massage seats when you're up to your thighs in mud and the local car wash is seven hours away.