A funny video ad for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class reminds us how hard it takes to slam the car’s massive doors to close. True off-road is not a toy car for young ladies. However, if the door requires a bold swing, in the new Spartan you really have to “loose” with the door. And there are many more similar curiosities that make it so different from ordinary automotive clothing.
The electric Spartan 2.0 is built in the Czech Republic from an Indian base by MW Motors, located near Pilsen. He has a car imported from India without an engine and gearbox and installs an electric drive in the car. Originally, by the way, she built an electric car from an off-road UAZ 2924 Hunter, but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she was looking for a replacement for another such utilitarian off-road vehicle, and the choice fell on the Gurkha.
“Our target group is primarily various conservation organizations that need a capable off-road car, but would like to replace diesel with an electric drive,” explains Martin Veselý, technical director at MW Motors, adding that the Spartan is a car for farmers, forest workers, mining companies or conservationists and other professions that rely on 4×4 capabilities and need performance combined with practicality.
“We primarily assemble cars for Great Britain, which is why the Gurkha with right-hand drive is suitable for us. Organizations there can use a subsidy of 5,000 pounds to purchase an electric car. But now we are trying to reach out to various institutions on the European continent and we have homologated the first left-hand drive five-door model,” he adds.
Spartan can be had in several configurations. Not only right-hand or left-hand, it is offered from a two-seater utility version through four-seater variants to a six-seater arrangement. There are two bodies to choose from – a short three-door with a length equal to four meters, or a 40 cm longer five-door. Only a problem with homologation due to seat belts resulted in the company registering a longer version for only six people, although there could actually be seven seats.
The price varies, depending on the design, from 1,498,000 crowns for the “three-door”, an additional 40,000 is paid for the longer five-door model. And that’s exactly what we tested in the editorial office. That is, the mentioned first homologated model with left-hand drive that the company has.
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Inspired by the G class
It’s not a car that slips inconspicuously into. The very first contact makes it clear that this is a pure working machine. He literally climbs into the cabin, the entrance is high and requires a bit of dexterity. And the stubborn doors… This is not a city electric car, but an honest piece of iron, which is actually nice.
The view from the driver’s seat of the typical angular hood with protruding blinkers on the sides immediately reminds one of the Mercedes G-Class. This is no accident. The Indian Force Gurkha, on which the Spartan is based, has long been considered one of the most visible off-roaders inspired by the legendary “geek”.
Force Motors had technical cooperation with Mercedes in the past, produced licensed diesels, and the design philosophy can still be seen today in the bodywork, whether it is the upright windshield, narrow windows, high angular hood, round lights and the shape of the rear. And so the driver gets the feeling that he is sitting in something that is closer to military equipment than to an SUV.
The interior feels like it stopped in the nineties. Hard plastics, simple vents, physical buttons and a minimum of design frills. Everything is subordinated to function and durability. The build quality corresponds to a work car, nothing squeaks, but it doesn’t try to look premium either. After all, that’s what a typical owner wants.
In contrast to the utilitarian-looking plastics, the smooth and shiny black ergonomic gear selector, which is slightly reminiscent of the lever of older BMWs, looks rather oddly modern. The Czech company will have it imported from China.
The steering wheel has no control buttons, the blinkers are somewhat illogically controlled by the lever to the right of the steering wheel by pulling towards or away from each other. “It was a solution only for the first homologated piece, others will already have a traditional lever,” explains Veselý.
The radio belongs to the weaker sides of the car in terms of sound and user, although the original one is replaced by an Alpina radio with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. On the other hand, the PTC heater (resistive electric heater) works excellently and warms up the cabin very quickly in cold weather, which is essential for a work car.
The rear of the interior is more complicated. The third row is entered by opening the fifth door to the side. The crew climbs inside using steps that are mounted on the rear bumper. Perhaps there is no need to explain that it is not exactly for people who are very overweight or of an older age.
In short, the Spartan is more of a tool than a family car. And this despite the fact that the trunk is very decent and the longer variant offers up to 2,600 liters of space after the second and third rows are folded down.
Its battery has a usable capacity of approximately 57.4 kilowatt hours (61 kWh in total) and the torque of the electric motor exceeds one thousand newton meters (specifically 1075 Nm), which gives the car power comparable to smaller trucks. After all, it weighs like a small truck, namely 2560 kg, but it boasts that it can tow a 3.5-tonne trailer. And there are not many such electric cars on the market in Europe.
The electric motor alone produces 130 kW of power and transmits the torque through a traditional reduction and mechanical differential locks. The electric motor is also interesting in that it has a maximum speed of around 5500 rpm. Thanks to this, the power can be dosed extremely smoothly in the field.
With Spartan in the field
The car is drivable exactly as it looks. The four-wheel drive mechanics work perfectly. Switching between rear drive, fast and slow four-wheel drive is classic, complete with mechanical differential locks.
In the field, the Spartan looks very confident, the electric motor allows for extremely fine dosing of power and slow cruising by centimeters. The only limit is the tires, if they are not suitable for the terrain. Hill Descent Assistant is available and works reliably, automatic hill hold is activated by pressing the brake pedal harder.
The noise in the car when driving is extreme, especially from the gimbal and mechanical parts of the drive, but according to the mechanics at MW Motors, this is not a common condition. “We lent the car just before you for a demanding test in the field, and due to careless behavior the cardan shaft was damaged, in reality the vibrations and noise of the transmissions are much better,” says Veselý.
Don’t expect the silence typical of electric cars here, but it doesn’t matter in the off-road, and it rather underlines the car’s raw character. The Spartan feels like a machine that isn’t afraid of work, mud or pulling a heavy trailer.
The real range is close to what MW Motors openly admits, i.e. a maximum of 227 kilometers (three-door 13 km more). During a roughly fifty-kilometer drive, we lost approximately a quarter of the battery’s capacity, which means that in normal operation we can count on a range of between 160 and 200 kilometers.
At a slower pace, off the highway, there is no problem getting over the 200km mark. Highway traffic, on the other hand, is the car’s biggest weakness, aerodynamics and weight take their toll. If you drive a Spartan at a speed of 135 km/h, you will drive a maximum of one hundred kilometers. In really tough terrain, the engine doesn’t work at high revs or high power, and the “engine hours” are actually more important, i.e. the machine’s operating time while working, not the distance traveled, and the Spartan will probably do well there.
“This car is not built for long highway journeys. It is a working tool for off-road use, where the electric drive makes the most sense,” says Martin Veselý from MW Motors. Charging takes place via the CCS connector, the maximum power is limited with respect to the battery temperature.
Especially with repeated use, the performance drops significantly, which is a price for a simpler design without active cooling of the battery. Although the company states that the maximum charging power should reach the limit of 80 kW, we never once got above 60 kW.
However, it can’t be assumed that anyone in the Spartan will regularly make long highway moves, so home charging will be a no-brainer. It handles slow AC charging with an output of 11 kW. In addition, there is also a V2L function, so various appliances can be charged from the Spartan, which can be useful in the wilderness.
Inspired by Mercedes?
The Indian Force Gurkha and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class do not share a direct manufacturing partnership, their relationship is based on inspiration and technical heritage. The Gurkha is a classic all-terrain off-roader, with an angular utilitarian design, a ladder frame, rigid axles, a reduction gearbox and an emphasis on off-road capability rather than luxury. It is for this reason that the Gurkha is often compared to the “Indian G-Klasse”, although this is only a conceptual and design inspiration, not a joint project with Mercedes.
A real technical connection exists in the area of engines. Force Motors used to produce Mercedes-Benz diesel engines under license in India, specifically the OM616 and OM617 series, which were also used in some generations of the G-Class. The modern Force Gurkha uses an engine derived from this design line and further modified for current requirements. However, Mercedes does not officially develop, endorse or manufacture the Gurkha, and the two cars differ in terms of target group, equipment level and price – the G-Class is a luxury off-roader, while the Gurkha is a simple and affordable off-roader designed mainly for the Indian market.
Import z Indie
Martin Veselý describes how the entire reconstruction actually takes place. The frame, bodywork and axles come from India in a disassembled state, and in Pilsen the car is completed in its final form with an electric drive, custom wiring, software and electronics to meet European homologations.
“We buy the battery, motor, and control units from suppliers, but we complete our own system, i.e. hardware and software,” explains Veselý. The batteries are supplied by a Chinese company, but Veselý does not want to disclose its name for competitive reasons. Currently, these are classic lithium-ion cells, in the future the company is considering switching to LFP batteries, which are cheaper and safer.
But one of Spartan’s key features is modularity. All essential electrical components are concentrated in one large module at the front of the car. “So if a problem occurs, the entire battery box with BMS and electronics can be removed from the car in about twenty minutes,” says Veselý. “It’s either fixed on the spot or replaced with another one and the car can continue to run.”
The company also has remote diagnostics, thanks to which it can monitor the condition of the vehicle and predict possible defects. This is especially important for customers in remote areas.
“In Europe, it is not yet a mass product. We are still discussing the first sale in the Czech Republic as well. But in Britain, the car has found customers mainly among organizations that need an electric off-road for work in protected areas, parks or on construction sites,” adds Veselý.
At the same time, he adds that it is not easy to convince them. “People are afraid of a new brand, they are afraid of service or the availability of parts. That’s why we are now trying to target public institutions that have their own facilities and service team,” he explains.
So driving a Spartan 2.0 is an experience that makes sense especially when you know what the car is for. It is not a comfortable electric car or a technological toy. It’s an honest, mechanically robust workhorse that combines old-school off-roading with modern electric drive, and that’s exactly where its greatest strength lies. It’s nice that such machines are also produced in the Czech Republic. For us, it was undoubtedly one of the most interesting driving experiences of the year.
