When you look out into the world and see what cars are kicking about, you get an impression of the worlds they live in. Supercars belong in Monaco or Mayfair, Range Rovers next to places with chandeliers in them (same for Rollers), superminis belong in grocery store car parks, and the BMW 3 Series et al should be milling around industrial parks. Where does the Moke International Moke belong then? Beaches, mostly. And anywhere you can find someone willing to be the center of attention.
If you’re trying to place what a Moke is, you may well have heard the name before, albeit with ‘Mini’ in front of it. Looking at the new car, you can clearly see where its lineage lies. The original Mini Moke was first conceptualized in the late 1950s as a military vehicle. A stripped down variant of the city car that got Britain moving, it had no roof or doors, and was designed to be dropped out of planes so troops could cross inhospitable enemy terrain at speed.
Gallery: Electric Moke Review
It wasn’t terribly good at that. It was too low, so small lumps and bumps would stump it. The gas motor powering it was also woeful, so once it had been freed—it was light enough for its charges to get out, pick it up and move it—it took a while to reach something else to get stuck on. In the fast-paced theater of war, getting out of your car and slowly going from A to B isn’t ideal. It was later marketed at agriculture types, then civilians, but it didn’t really hit its mark until it found its way to the beaches of the world.
Small, light, open and with room for you and your closest pals, the Moke was the perfect car to go and do glamorous things in by the sea, before whizzing back to a swanky villa and whiling the evening away drinking wine and saying things like ‘oh, isn’t this just SO delightful..!’ You may have caught glimpses of this life through the screen, as Mokes made their way into various shows and movies. Perhaps you caught a glimpse of The Beatles, The Beach Boys or Brigitte Bardot behind the wheel. As a means for waging war it was cack, but for looking glam in the wild few things came close.
Today’s Moke is an electric homage to the glamorous Mini Moke of old. From afar, you might think they’re the same size. Get closer and you’ll see that the new car is a little chonkier. About ten percent chonkier, in fact. That’ll be because it’s got four real human-friendly seats fitted to a big ‘ol sled that hides all the Moke’s electric gubbins. There’s a 10.5-kWh battery under the hood, hooked up to a 44bhp (33kW) motor driving the rear wheels.
Moke International Electric Moke
Now, the modern Moke here isn’t really a car. It’s a leisure vehicle more than anything else. Its top speed is limited to 50 mph. A highway cruiser it is not, and, if we’re honest, it feels a little, erm, interesting at VMAX. It is VERY exposed to the elements and rather low down. 50mph feels fine when you’ve got a roof and doors, but in a silent, open buggy it’s bizarre. Moke International says it’ll get from 0-30 mph in 4.5 seconds, and it certainly feels brisk off the line. The firm says it’ll manage 54 miles on the European WLTP cycle, but if you’re careful you can probably get a bit more out of it. There’s no fast charging fun here either. You can get to 80% in two hours, and getting the rest of the way takes the same amount of time.
For something so simple, it does come with drive modes: normal, eco and beach. Normal is just fine for pretty much everything. Eco numbs the throttle to eke out as much range as possible and makes it feel a bit… lackadaisical. Beach is Moke International’s version of sport mode. Pep is added to its step with few cares in the world. It certainly surprised a few people off the line in Central London’s morning traffic.
Steering isn’t power assisted, so you’ll need to have done a push-up or two in your life to make low-speed maneuvering pleasant. Once you’re up to speed it’s easy. Don’t go in expecting Porsche-sequel feedback from the wheel, though. It turns the car, but doesn't communicate what it’s doing all that well. That said, as its sub-1,764-pound (weight is nice ‘n low, it’s hilariously chuckable. You won’t be doing low speed drifts, but while you’re whirring along you can give the wheel a good yank and it’ll neatly take bends. You’ll find yourself wearing a big grin.
You’ll also notice there’s little by way of weather protection. You can affix a soft top and big plastic doors, but if you’re hardy you can go without the lot. Everything inside is marine-grade. These things are designed to live by the sea and get wet, so a downpour won’t knacker your seats. Nor will it mess up the speakers. You can take your tunes on the road thanks to a robust Bluetooth setup, which doesn’t sound too bad on the fly.
In its sills you’ll find charge ports, cables, batteries and such. Helpfully there’s a smallish trunk in the rear to store whatever stuff you want to lock away. That’s a small but somewhat necessary nod to practicality in a car where you’d otherwise store stuff by your feet, or risk leaving bags in the back where they’re bound to get pinched.
Lack of much weather protection aside, there are a couple of things about the Moke that’ll irritate you, given enough time. The sills are quite tall, and quite wide. Getting in isn’t a huge effort if you’ve ever glanced in the vague direction of a yoga class, but if you’re really inflexible, ingress and egress may take some getting used to. If the car’s been standing in the rain for too long there’s a good chance water will be all over the sills, too, and when you drag yourself in the backs of your trousers will get a smidge soggy. It’s not world-ending, but it’s a surprise the first time it happens. No one actively enjoys damp pants. Better to bring the swim trunks.
You may also be alarmed by the lack of… much on the dash. The cabin is sparse, and while it’s cool in its own way, for $41,900 you’d hope for a bit more by way of pizzazz in the cabin. The music controls look a little rough and tumble, which takes some of the shine off. Moke International’s dials are cool and all, but they’re small dollops of interestingness in an otherwise barren slab of metal. Yes, the point of the car is to get you to and from the sea in outward style, but some beauty on the inside wouldn’t hurt.
If that all sounds peachy and has given you sudden cause to throw ‘electric Moke’ into Google, you’ll likely find more than one. There’s Moke International, and there’s also Moke America. The two are very different, despite making cars that look awfully similar called ‘Moke,’ and they’re entrenched in a legal battle over trademarks. They both want to be the one with their name above the door, and it’s getting immensely complicated. The American Moke has a 12kWh battery, less power, a slower 25mph top speed, takes longer to charge, and will get you 40 miles before needing to be plugged back in. It’s also classified as a ‘Low Speed Vehicle’ by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which means you can’t take it on roads with a posted limit above 35 mph. On the plus side, it’s a touch shy of $20,000 cheaper than the British car.
The Moke International project also has some heavy hitters behind it. The firm recently took Nick English, co-founder of luxury watchmaker Bremont, on board as Executive Chairman. His knowledge of the luxury market isn’t to be sniffed at, and as the cars were appearing in ‘the right places’ before he arrived, they’ll surely end up in even more exclusive garages under his watchful eye. You’ll also find former JLR man David Moore in the Program Manager role - his knowhow will surely mean a few of the current car’s foibles will be under internal scrutiny already.
But let’s be real about Moke International’s Moke. It’s a ridiculous vehicle. It stands out wherever it goes, it’s broadly useless for anything other than localish jaunts when the sun’s shining, it’s hard to get in and out of, and the cabin’s sparse. Despite its shortcomings, it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face though. It’s a happy car for happy people to go around being happy in. And if I could afford one without blinking… I’d probably be very happy indeed.
