Question: what do The Beatles, Madonna, George Russell, Jennifer Lopez, The Beach Boys, Cher, Hunter S Thompson, Brigitte Bardot and Kate Moss all have in common? The answer, obviously, is that they have all been pictured in a Moke.
First launched in 1964, the Moke simultaneously stuck two fingers up to fashion while being embraced by the beautiful people. After appearances in four James Bond films and cult TV series, The Prisoner, it has become a common sight at luxurious hotels and resorts: a car synonymous with sunshine and good times.
Today, the original Moke has been reinvented as a fully road-legal electric car, built in the UK and priced at £35,995. And because the beautiful people were all busy, yours truly was invited along to drive it.
From military to à la mode
The Moke was initially conceived as a military vehicle, known as the ‘Buckboard’. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis and based on the then-new Mini, it was presented to the British Army in 1959, ostensibly as a vehicle to be parachuted into combat zones.
Military top brass were unconvinced by the Buckboard’s limited ground clearance, front-wheel-drive layout and feeble 848cc engine, though. So British Motor Corporation (BMC) duly went back to the drawing board reengineering the vehicle – now known as the Mini Moke – with longer-travel suspension and four-wheel drive. Sadly, it was too little, too late for officers already accustomed to larger Land Rovers.
The Moke story might have ended there, but it started a new chapter in civvy street and, much like the Mini itself, became an icon of the counterculture. Production spread from Longbridge in Birmingham to factories in Australia, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Portugal, where the final Mini Moke rolled off the line in 1993.
After two decades dormant, the car was resurrected by Moke International in 2013, then powered by a new four-cylinder petrol engine. And for its next chapter, the Moke (no longer ‘Mini’, as BMW owns the trademark) has gone electric, under the stewardship of British entrepreneur Nick English, who co-founded Bremont watches.
Electric and eccentric
My only previous encounter with a (Mini) Moke was on Magnetic Island, off the east coast of Australia, where a friend and I hired one for a day. On quiet roads that meandered past sun-kissed beaches and eucalyptus groves, the Moke felt very much in its natural habitat.
Today’s drive is considerably closer to home: barely beyond the M25, in fact. And despite what you see in these press photos, the weather was rather more British – i.e. it was raining. Not ideal in a car with no doors.
While it looks instantly familiar – and unmissable in lurid Sunset Orange – the electric Moke is actually a fresh design, about 10 percent larger than the BMC original. Notable updates include LED headlights, a beefier rollover hoop, 13-inch wheels and a now-fake front grille.
Unhitch the rubber bonnet straps and, in place of a whiny A-Series engine, you discover a 10.8kWh lithium-ion battery. This drives the rear wheels via a 45hp electric motor, propelling the 741kg Moke from 0-30mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 50mph.
You can’t use a fast charger, but a three-pin plug (or CCS socket) will replenish the battery from 0-80 percent in two hours. Fully charged, the Moke has a WLTP-certified range of 54 miles.
That Moke isn’t funny anymore
Clamber over the boxy sill – which doubles up as storage compartments, including for the charging cable – and you face a simple, analogue dashboard. The large standalone speedo and bus-like angle of the steering wheel are obvious throwbacks to its classic Mini roots, but there’s also a USB port for your smartphone and a Bluetooth audio system with two waterproof speakers.
Indeed, everything inside the four-seat cabin is built to marine grade, meaning it won’t go haywire in a tropical rainstorm. Or in dreary English drizzle. Even with the fabric ‘bimini top’ poppered in place, that’s reassuring to know.
Like any electric car, the Moke is easy to operate, with a single-speed auto transmission that has buttons to flick between forward, neutral and reverse. There are also three drive modes, including a Beach setting – indicated by an illuminated palm tree – that limits torque to prevent the wheels from bogging down in loose sand.
The way you Moke me feel
So far, so sensible, but is it actually fun to drive? You bet. Seeing the tarmac rush beneath your right elbow feels disconcerting at first, but the payoff for the Moke’s al fresco attitude is superb all-round visibility and a real sense of connection with the road.
Heavy at parking speeds, the unassisted steering comes alive on country lanes, helping you make the most of the skinny, 165-section tyres’ modest grip. Acceleration is brisk and linear, while the long-travel brake pedal eventually serves up strong stopping power (albeit no ABS) from the front discs and rear drums.
Unlike the original, Mini-derived Moke with its rubber cone suspension, this latest iteration rides impressively well, coping with crater-like potholes and maintaining a calm sense of control.
The Moke is still no Lotus Elise, of course, yet there’s something to be said for cars that keep your limbs busy and your brain engaged at well below the legal limit. Going flat-out in a Moke at 50mph feels faster than a Porsche Taycan travelling at twice that velocity.
Technically, M1 Small Series approval from the EU means you can drive on a motorway, but why bother? If you’re in a Moke, you’re probably not commuting to the office, so relax and take the scenic route.
Hire and reward
Robin Kennedy, chief commercial officer at Moke International, says the rental market will be key to growing this British-based company. Until now, around 500 Mokes a year have been assembled at its factory near Northampton, but Kennedy is working towards a target of 5,000 cars a year. With a nine-month waiting list, demand already exceeds supply.
Paying the price of a well-equipped family hatchback for a glorified beach buggy with modest performance, limited range, few mod-cons and little weather protection defies any attempt at level-headed logic. However, the world would be a much duller place if all cars were simply sensible, A-to-B transport. And like on that day I spent exploring Magnetic Island, a Moke is more about the journey than the destination.
If you need “a third car for your second home”, as Kennedy puts it, the electric Moke fits the bill brilliantly. The rest of us? We’ll just have to hire one on holiday.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
Electric Moke
PRICE: £35,995
POWER: 45hp
0-30MPH: 4.5sec
TOP SPEED: 50mph
KERB WEIGHT: 741kg
BATTERY SIZE: 10.8kWh
ELECTRIC RANGE: 54 miles