Moke makes an all-electric comeback | GRR
The Mini Moke was originally conceived in the 1950s as a light military vehicle, but was rejected on account of its low ground clearance and modest power. As a consequence, it was spared a life on the battlefield and instead, in 1964, BMC revealed a civilian version. Its serious intent was usurped by a fun side, and it’s joie de vivre made it the ideal summertime beach car. Brigitte Bardot famously owned one and it appeared in four Bond films.
It has just been given a new lease of life as an EV. “We are the first legacy or historic OEM to go fully electric, which is something we’re really proud of,” says Moke International CEO Isobel Dando. “The history is very important to us and you can see one of our original cars here today but I wouldn’t say that we’re beholden to the past. Most important to us is that everyone we seem to come across has a Moke memory.”
Here at Revival, there’s an original Moke on the stand alongside the new cars. The company wants to see its cars on the world’s most glamorous coastal resorts, from Sandback to St Tropez to Miami. The move to electric power was accelerated when Moke struck a deal in July of this year with EV Technology Group. The deal came about after EVTG CEP Wouter Witvoet had tried to hire a Moke in the south of France.
“It started really innocently,” he says. “When we first spoke, we were asking about getting more Mokes in France. They were already on the path of electrification so it all came together as a much bigger group strategy.”
Dando adds: “It was almost like a destiny encounter where Wouter was looking for a Moke in the south of France that we had this greatest meeting of minds. I wasn’t necessarily something that either EVTG or Moke were looking for.”
Witvoet sees himself as someone who might be a Moke buyer. He says: “I love cars, but as we’re making the transition to electric there wasn’t something I wanted to buy. All that is being promoted is cars as a utility to go from A to B and the Moke will get you from A to B, but that’s not the reason you drive it.”
“We have a massive target audience of private individuals where this is their third or fourth or fifth car for maybe your third or fourth home,” says Dando. “Because of the locations we appear in, we’ve always had the most beautiful beach locations across the world. There’s always an opportunity for rental, or as we like to call it to use vehicles rather than to just own them. So the market in our traditional segment is massive but we feel that the brand also has opportunities across other segments in the future. We’re looking at all sorts at moment.”
EVTG has recently bought Fablink Group, which provides manufacturing services to a number of OEMs. It will handle the manufacture of Mokes in the UK.
“We’ve taken on a new 90-square-foot factory in Silverstone,” says Witvoet. “There’s quite a development for the EV talent pool. I chose the UK as one of the destinations because there’s so much history in terms of brands and also amazing manufacturing capabilities, especially in the Midlands. The real strength of the UK is building on something that’s already there rather than starting something new.”
EVTG will be acquiring other historic marques in order to electrify them and share technology. During the Revival weekend, the company released news that it has taken over four historic coachbuilding names: Fantuzzi, Marazzi, OSI and Brewster & Co.
The Moke’s 33kW motor provides a top speed of 80km/h. A four-hour charge tops it up to a WLTP range of 120km and it’s priced at £29,150. “We like to think of it as accessible luxury,” says Dando. “We are a luxury brand on a mission to own luxury beach lifestyle but make it accessible. It’s not open to everyone, of course, because £30,000 is still a lot of money, however we’re not a super-luxury brand in the £250,000 segment. So accessibility together with sustainability is very important for us.”
Photography by Joe Harding