[BlackPearl]

A bit of a background to start with

Nowadays we get to hear a lot that social media is bad for so many reasons like lack of concentration, mindless scrolling, trolling.. it is a very long list. But in this case I must say that without social media, I would have missed an important event, well an "important to me" event! Facebook surely knows my predilection about 4x4s and my feed is full of them. One evening last week while scrolling through them I stopped twice to look at one particular post because of two things, it was from Surrey 4x4 with whom I do a lot of greenlaning and it was about a 4x4 that was not a Land Rover but looked very familiar! Went through the photos and realised why it was so familiar. The post mentioned that a company is coming up with a new generation fully electric 4x4 and that the mailing customers have been informed about a public demo coming up. I started pondering over the post and said to myself, well hang on.. I should be on the mailing list of Surrey 4x4 but I cannot remember any mention about this vehicle. For a second I thought that they have forgotten to send me the email. Moment of panic, started frantically looking for the email from Gareth (Surrey 4x4 owner) and to my relief found it after a couple of minutes. It was an email sent in December and it mentioned that the slots were limited. Panic continues. Immediately emailed Gareth that I really wanted to be part of the demo mainly because I have driven the ICE version of the previous generation of this vehicle. In my desperation I mentioned that any slot will do as long as I get to drive the car. Got a reply that there was a place in the last slot and it was booked in my name. Relief!

The Spartan EV 2.0 from their website. It says pre-preduction name



As usual I was excited about the demo of the 4WD vehicle named Spartan EV 2.0. I read up a bit online before the event. On the day of the demo I reached the place almost half an hour prior to allocated time slot. This is the same place where Surrey 4x4 does all the training and I had done my LANTRA certification here. While entering the woods I could see the demo vehicle from a distance and I thought that this is not a good sign. It is usually a common sight after greenlaning events where a 4x4 will be standing with its bonnet open and quite few people jostling for space to get a good look at what has gone wrong. The demo vehicle had its bonnet open and a few people were there checking something. I thought, oh no, something has gone wrong with the vehicle since it has been doing the course through out that day and that I would not get a chance to drive it. In a few minutes after parking my car I got to know that my concern was unfounded and it was just the people checking the huge battery pack that replaces the conventional engine.

Screen grab from the dash cam showing the people looking at the car with the bonnet up!



The Vehicle and the Offroad course

MW Motors agreed to bring along their their new pre-production EV 2.0 (they haven’t confirmed the name of the vehicle yet!). This new 4x4 EV is based on the Indian manufactured ‘Gurkha’ . The previous version was based on a Russian utilitarian vehicle. For the new one, they wanted to go with something that is manufactured on a larger scale, is more capable, is more modern and safer. The offroad course was the same track that Surrey 4x4 uses for their training and it is quite difficult at places to say the least. It had been raining for the last couple of days and that made the ground even more tricky. What makes the course even more interesting is that there are slopes that look quite benign but the tree roots make it very slippery and the cars start sliding towards the trees. It takes great concentration to avoid hitting the trees. A bit of trivia, if you hit a tree, it will be named after you!

The first Spartan EV based on a Russian UV



The Drive

As I said before, the course is tricky and this was the first time I was driving an EV. It takes a bit of time to get used to. I have driven on this course innumerable number of times with my Series 3 and the ex-Defender 110 as I had done my LANTRA 4x4 training here as well as attended several offroading sessions. But this was the first time I was driving a vehicle with road biased tyres. It was very different as I was not used to the lack of grip and so much slipping and sliding. But full marks to the vehicle for being able to do the track with those tyres. I have seen Range Rovers and Discoveries on this track with road tyres and have seen them struggle at a few places. But they are backed by state of the art offroad electronics, the Spartan on the other hand is purely mechanical underneath and I was simply amazed. The front and rear differential locks worked perfectly. It was a bit different while going down a slope compared to conventional ICE vehicles because there is no engine braking in the EV to hold you back. So I had to brake on the slopes which I am not at all used to. But the sales manager told us that the production vehicle will come with Hill Descent Control. The first drive through the course was challenging for me because I was not used to the vehicle and driving an offroad vehicle through narrow places with so much mud needs precise throttle and brake inputs. However, once everyone else had completed their driving, I requested for another drive and it was much better the second time. I have no doubt that the production version of the vehicle will be extremely capable.

Here is a video of the drive -

https://youtu.be/pBKq9uw_QuI

More details about the Spartan EV 2.0 can be found on their website - https://spartan2.mwmotors.cz/



Specifications from the website -





The range is about 150 miles (about 240 Kilometers) on a single charge with fast charging option. That is not too bad considering the shape and weight of the vehicle. Moreover, the target customers are forestry department and construction companies that need reliable and capable 4x4s on the site and don't need to travel significant distances on a daily basis. I was talking to a few people and they were saying that those vehicles only drive about 30 to 40 miles max within the sites and that is perfectly doable with this one. It will help in meeting their green targets and there is no electric utility vehicle in the market as of now.

There is another set of target customer like the people who currently put their offroader on a trailer and drive to pay and play sites and enjoy a mud bashing day. They can easily do it with this vehicle.

Like this -

[BlackPearl]

A few photos from the event -





Interesting mix of vehicles on that day





The huge battery pack



Nice warm fire on a cold day along with some refreshments







The MW Motors and Surrey 4x4 teams





It was raining while returning and I had to click a photo of the Series 3 in that surrounding

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[tanmay324]

This is very interesting as a BS6 Gurkha owner! Capability of the chassis and 4wd system is undoubtedly great but reliability wise its a little questionable.
We are having lot of wheel bearing, axle seals, diff seals failures. Tiny things but they keep you from exploiting the capability without any worry. All fixable things though. Also I can only imagine what fun it would be to drive a 170hp 1000Nm Gurkha!

[MotoDrive]

If Force motors is able to somehow bring this in India at affordable pricing this will be a game changer for them. If some one at Force motors can take notice of this and do something on this will be good for customers and the company!

[Manuuj]

I had heard through the Force Motors grapevine that an electric Gurkha was under development but I had taken that information with a grain of salt.

Thank you for this lovely revelation. I am sure this JV would help Force with their EV efforts greatly. If they do take it as a serious market that is. For the indian made version (if it even happens) it would surely need around 400 km range as a minimum.

The diesel Gurkha has been out of production in India for almost a year now. We are all waiting for the BS6.2 version of its 3 door and 5 door but the expected date of arrival comes and goes with no real news or information from the company. It was meant to be May or June 2023 then October 2023 which went to January end 2024 and now the latest buzz is March 2024.

[Alfresco]

Originally Posted by tanmay324

This is very interesting as a BS6 Gurkha owner!
We are having lot of wheel bearing, axle seals, diff seals failures. Tiny things but they keep you from exploiting the capability without any worry. All fixable things though.

Don't know about fixable!
We used to own Force Motors' Matadors, both F305 and then the new ones, F307 (with the Mercedes OM616 engine).
Good engine, robust vehicle but those bearings, seals and UJ cross......

[Blooming Flower]

I saw an M mode option in the shifter lever shown on their website (written D/M). Does M mode really exist in this vehicle? If yes, how does it function and help during greenlaning?

[padmrajravi]

Very interesting. They are able to get 240 KM range from a battery pack that is almost the size of a typical engine and its auxiliary components. That seems too good to be true. Are they using a single motor and the original Gurkha's transfer case?

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

I saw an M mode option in the shifter lever shown on their website (written D/M). Does M mode really exist in this vehicle? If yes, how does it function and help during greenlaning?

I don't think there is any manual gear override functionality in EVs yet, this lever must have been taken from a vehicle that gives this option. Since this is still under development I am hoping that they will update the lever.

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

Are they using a single motor and the original Gurkha's transfer case?

Yes, single motor and the original transfer case.

[TusharK]

Czech start-up, MW Motors, has unveiled an all-electric version of the Force Gurkha. It is called the Spartan 2.0.



The Spartan 2.0 is based on the same ladder frame chassis as the Gurkha. Moreover, it also borrows the body shell, interior, suspension and running gear from the ICE version. Hence, on the outside, it looks like any other Gurkha except for the blanked-off front grille that also houses the charging port.



The Spartan 2.0 is powered by a single electric motor that has an output of 174 BHP and 1,075 Nm. It is channelled to all four wheels via a transfer case offering manually selectable four-wheel drive with high and low ranges. It also gets manually locking differentials at the front and rear.



The Spartan 2.0 uses a 57.4 kWh battery pack sourced from China. It is placed under the bonnet and is said to offer a maximum range of around 240 km on a single charge. It can be charged from 20-80% in just over half an hour at rates of up to 90 kW. It also supports bi-directional charging.

The Spartan 2.0 weighs 2,350 kg. It can carry up to 1,025 kg and has a towing capacity of 3,000 kg.

Link to Team-BHP News

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Czech start-up, MW Motors, has unveiled an all-electric version of the Force Gurkha. It is called the Spartan 2.0.

Considering the F150 Lightning is a full blown pickup, Rivian is both (Pickup/Family version), Hummer EV is hmm, not sure, hideous may be! - probably this is the 1st 4wd EV 2Dr and looks retro too.

Who said EVs should look like a toy from a Will Smith Scifi movie?

[Gamemaztr]

1,075 Nm Torque!? This should definitely be a typo error.

[tanmay324]

Originally Posted by Gamemaztr

1,075 Nm Torque!? This should definitely be a typo error.

Its the peak torque of the motor. Since there is no GB reduction, its actually less than 1st gear of the ICE gurkha.

[predatorwheelz]

Just came to know the vehicle has been launched at an eye-watering GBP 49,995 in the UK! At that price this would be a niche vehicle in the UK, let alone India. Don't see too many hardcore off road enthusiasts willing to pay more than 50 lakhs (not counting import duty) for an Electric Gurkha.