Meyers Manx, the original maker of the Volkswagen Beetle-based, fiberglass-bodied beach buggy from the 1960s, just published the starting price for its all-new, all-electric Manx 2.0 electric buggy, and it’s not exactly cheap.
Revealed last year at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, the company’s first all-new vehicle in nearly 20 years starts at $74,000 for the base variant with the 20-kilowatt-hour battery pack and yet-to-be-released performance figures. That’s almost as expensive as the recently introduced Tesla Model S Standard Range, which starts at $78,490 and offers a 320-mile range.
The base MSRP came with no extra information and was casually thrown in a sentence at the end of the press release for the company’s new Resorter Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV), which debuted last week at The Quail, so we still don’t know how much the top-of-the-line model will set prospective customers back.
Gallery: Meyers Manx 2.0 Electric
When it was first announced last year, Meyers Manx said that the reimagined dune buggy will be available with either a 20 kWh or a 40 kWh battery pack, as well as a 6 kW onboard charger as standard and optional 60 kW DC fast-charging availability.
The bigger battery variant was touted as having a dual-motor setup powering the rear wheels only and making a combined 202 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque, enabling a 0 to 60 miles per hour sprint in 4.5 seconds and a driving range of up to 300 miles on a full charge. Meanwhile, the base version with a 20 kWh battery is said to offer exactly half the range and less powerful motors.
A limited beta series of 50 units is expected to be manufactured this year, while full production and customer deliveries are set to begin next year, after the beta testers report on their findings and allow the company to make necessary changes.
Customers can place a $500 deposit on the firm’s website to secure a spot in the queue, the same as with the recently revealed Meyers Manx Resorter NEV, which starts at $49,000 and is limited to 25 mph.
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