SECTION TITLE
AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
DREAMS N
ovember 2023 proved to be an exciting month for Ross Crompton, Head of Design at Munro Vehicles, as a major
milestone was achieved when the fi rst pre-production vehicle rolled out of the company’s Glasgow factory. Named after Scotland’s iconic hills, the company has only been in existence since 2019. “T e founder’s original plan was to electrify an old Land Rover for adventures off -road,” Compton explains. “However, they soon found that after speaking to suppliers there is a niche in the market for a purely electric, rugged 4x4. As further research was undertaken, many companies said a vehicle like that would be very benefi cial.” One of the fi rst decisions to be made was not to include a range extender generator. Compton continues, “T ese fi rms were interested from the outset in decarbonising, they made that point clear. T e team at Munro has spoken to hundreds of companies to gain an insight into precisely what duty cycles their vehicles do. With the appropriate battery pack specifi ed, operators can run for 19 hours which suits the work pattern they
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ELECTRIC
Could this new electric vehicle spark mass production in Scotland for the fi rst time in decades? Jon Lawson fi nds out
need. T ey are not looking for continuous use. Users likely need two days work on a single charge before returning the vehicle to base to be recharged overnight.”
TIME FOR DESIGN Once the decision has been made to launch a new vehicle, design work started in earnest. “Being a working vehicle, we started out with the assumption that we would need space to comfortably seat fi ve work men or women with all their gear, and enough room for cargo as well,” says Compton. “T is gave us the base dimensions for the cabin and wheelbase. From there, we looked at approach and departure angles to size the body. T e width is defi ned by UK agriculture, the fact it has to fi t through a standard gate. Once this was sketched out on paper, we were able to work out how tall it has to be to give the occupants a comfortable space. T is was then paired with all our in-house manufacturing processes (such as the press brake) – we weren’t interested in pursuing voluptuous curves. Manufacturing the body is about pressing and folding.” Armed with this information, the design started to really take shape. “T is
is how we built the fi rst two prototypes,” he confi rms. “Only then did we start the modelling process, by bringing in a specialist who used to work for McLaren. He ran a bunch of simulations for us in terms of aerodynamics, which heavily infl uenced what we did going forward to the Series-M. T is is particularly true of the front-end, where we removed a lot of panelling. We altered the design to create an aero channel, directing air into the wheel well which helps cool the brakes and directing it around the A-pillar which dramatically reduced wind noise. “As well as a general improvement
in aerodynamics, there were other ramifi cations including for the windscreen washers: we have been able to improve how they work based on how the air moves over the body at speed.” Other improvements quickly followed.
“By creating that space and allowing more air through the front, cooling is much better,” he adds. “What’s more, we have been able to create a single stack under the bonnet to house all the critical componentry. T is made maintenance infi nitely easier, which is exactly what we are keen to do.”
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