Ireland is not often considered a world-beater when it comes to car manufacturing, but that could be about to change with the Croxford Defender.
On Thursday night the eDefender won the GQ award for "Off-Roader of the Year" and was named "one of the greatest EVs on the planet.
Made by Wicklow-based AVA, you could be forgiven for thinking this off-roader was a part of Arnold Schwarzenegger's collection during his days of driving around in a Humvee.
The company create the eDefender 110 which has a 200-mile range with a full charge, takes three hours to complete a charge and get from 0 to 64kmph in just 5.4 seconds.
Having already re-engineered a Fiat 500 for Dev Patel and an old VW Camper for Ellie Goulding’s wedding, AVA took inspiration for their latest project from Stuart Croxford, a former Captain of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who has taken part in Ironman triathlons and endurance challenges to raise money for injured veterans, despite suffering life-changing injuries in Afghanistan in 2012.
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The electric vehicle technology within AVA’s Croxford Defender car benefits from over a decade of development, by a team from some of the biggest brands in the automotive industry including Lotus, McLaren, Jaguar and Williams Advanced Engineering.
After the victory, AVA's founder Norman Crowley said "The world is changing and it has set us a challenge. We chose to accept it and become part of the solution.
"To be named as one of the greatest electric cars on planet earth is a real honour. Our whole team has worked tirelessly to create the vehicle that will accompany Stuart Croxford on his challenge as he cycles from Land’s End to John o’Groats in May."
There was a slight change to this year's GQ awards, with GQ's Paul Henderson saying: "For 2022, we made the decision to update the GQ Car Awards and make all the winners electric-powered. What remained unchanged, though, was our intention to pick machines that are inspiring, interesting, have automotive integrity and, most importantly of all, get our pulse racing."
Ireland hasn't had the greatest history with car production, as any Delorean fan will tell you, but this team in Wicklow are attempting to bring back car manufacturing at scale for the first time since the 80s.
The company is on a mission to create cars that not only have the lowest carbon footprint on the road but that are built in a way that has the least impact on the planet.
At a cost of €300,000 this defender is set to have an impact no matter where it goes.
