This small electric beach car is also stripped that

The French manufacturer nosmoke, which produced an electric reinterpretation of the Mini Moke, changes hands. From now on, the brand takes the name of Kate and displays great ambitions: it wants to go from a production of 200 cars per year to 200 per day ! Production will always be ensured in Cerizay, ex fief of Heuliez.

Electric Moke

Configure your electric Moke vehicle or ask for a free trial.

The electric Moke is produced by Moke International and is the modern interpretation of the famous beach car from the 60s – 90.

Dimensions of electric Moke

The electric Moke measures 3,325 mm long, 1,660 mm wide and 1,550 mm high with a wheelbase which extends over 2,255 mm. It can support a maximum mass of 680 kg on the front axle and 565 kg on the rear axle. The steel body adds to the robustness of the electric Moke. The car is equipped with helical spring suspension at the front and rear and disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear.

Electric Moke motorization

Electric Moke can reach a maximum speed of 80 km/h. Its engine has a maximum power of 33 kW (approximately 45 horsepower) and can produce maximum torque of 130 Nm. Vehicle transmission is ensured by the rear wheels.

Battery and autonomy

Moke International has not yet revealed all the technical characteristics of his car. However, we know that it is powered by a lithium-ion type battery and that a type 2 charger is supplied with the vehicle. The battery weighs 77 kg and has dimensions of 912 mm wide, 304 mm in height and 564 mm deep.

Marketing and prices

The electric Moke is offered at a base price of £ 29 150. To this is added British VAT 20%, which amounts to £ 5,830. First registration costs are set at 55 pounds sterling. In addition, delivery and the VAT of the United Kingdom (UK IVA) cost £ 960. A total of around 42,000 euros.

This small electric beach car is also stripped that

Displayed from 23,990 euros deduced ecological bonus, the new electric Moke is not really given. It costs even more than Dacia Spring !

Created in 1964 in order to serve in the British army, theAt Mini Moke quickly became a legendary car, especially used as a beach car in the same way as the mehari. And like its French rival, with the former Citroën E-Méhari which is no longer produced, the little Englishwoman has also sold to the charms of electricity, thanks to the Moke International company founded in 2018. Originally sold with a petrol engine, now the small car has finally decided to do without thermal engine earlier in the year.

Only one version, 100 % electric

The small electric beach car is therefore available in a single version, with an electric motor of 10.8 kW, or about 14.6 horsepower, This then allows it to achieve 0 to 55 km/h in 4.3 seconds for a maximum speed of 80 km/h, as reported by the brand of the brand. It has a 77-kilo lithium-ion battery, rechargeable in just four hours on a classic socket, allowing it to travel approximately 120 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle.

Logically, it is tempting to compare this new generation Moke to certain current models, such as the Dacia Spring. And for good reason, the low-cost electric city car displays a relatively similar positioning, despite some differences, starting with better autonomy, displayed at 230 kilometers WLTP. The dimensions are also larger, with a length of 3.33 meters for the Moke against 3.73 meters for the star of the Romanian brand.

A salty price

Yet, The electric beach car displays a higher price than its rival, displayed at 29,990 euros, or 23,990 euros Once the ecological bonus of 6,000 euros has deduced. For comparison, the Dacia Spring begins from 19,800 euros, bonus of 5,346 euros not deducted. A hell of a gap, while the latter offers best performance, from the top of its 44 horsepower.

Especially since the endowment of the Moke is rather spartan, since it has only the strict necessary, with the Bluetooth radio and the heated windshield. Note that unlike a Citroën Ami or a Renault Twizy, Moke is considered a real M1 category car, and driving license is therefore compulsory to be able to drive it.

By taking a look at the configurator, it should be noted that the choice of body shades, only one option is available. This is the complete hood, equipped with zipped doors. The exact price of this accessory is not yet known. And for good reason, Only the pre-orders are currently open, requiring a deposit of 990 euros all the same.

If the date of the first deliveries have not yet been communicated, be aware that it is possible to see this new electric Moke in real in the Casa Moke of Saint-Tropez as well as at the good market Rive Gauche in Paris, until Next October 16 in the brand’s pop up store.

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The French manufacturer Nosmoke changes hands and becomes Kate

The French manufacturer nosmoke, which produced an electric reinterpretation of the Mini Moke, changes hands. From now on, the brand takes the name of Kate and displays great ambitions: it wants to go from a production of 200 cars per year to 200 per day ! Production will always be ensured in Cerizay, ex fief of Heuliez.

Nosmoke changes its name and becomes Kate Original. It swaps its Chinese electric motor against a new engine supplied by Valeo.

Apart from large groups that are Stellantis and Renault, there are still some small manufacturers in France, of almost artisanal dimension. This is the case with our Moke. For the past ten years, it has been working to offer small electric cars. After the failure of its first model, the Noun, a car without a license, the company focused on a reinterpretation of the Mini Moke, a famous beach car eternally associated with Brigitte Bardot and Saint-Tropez. First imported from China, the car saw its production repatriated in France following too many quality problems. Cutting the boxes is provided by Cartol, a subcontractor specializing in industrial sheet metal, born from the co-body ash Heuliez. The final assembly of cars is done a few hundred meters away, in Cerizay, which has revised this city whose automotive industrial activity is historic.

Today, our Hands are changing. On the one hand because its founder Luc Jaguelin has reached retirement age, but also because investors have ambitious projects for the small brand. “Our Moke produces around 200 cars today per year, we want to go to 200 cars per day, or 40.000 annual units “, loose Matthias Goldenberg, Managing Director of Kate, who is part of the trio of buyers of our Moke with Thibaud Elzière and Pierre Encieut.

To feed these important ambitions, it is impossible to rest on the only our Moke, which is similar to a niche vehicle. “We have enough orders and brands of interest to increase the production of this model, but it seems difficult to hope to exceed one thousand annual copies”. At first, however, the efforts will be concentrated on this model, which will change its name.

Our Moke disappears in favor of Kate

The buyers intend to make a clean sweep of the past by making the name of our Moke disappear: the historical model will now be called Kate Original and will be revised technically. The Chinese electric motor will be replaced by that of the Citroën Ami, supplied by Valeo. Lithium batteries will be new and assembled in France. The entry -level versions will have NMC cells, placed under the front cover and no longer in the flanks. This will always be the case on the high-end model, which will have engines included in the rear wheels, which will make it a propulsion. The Trucki utility project, which was about to be marketed, is abandoned by the new management.

But Kate’s real spearhead will be the K1. Presented in the summer of 2023 and marketed a year later, it justifies the name change of the company, which wants to echo the “Kei Cars”, these light Japanese city cars, not very powerful and affordable. “The car of tomorrow, that of everyday journeys, will be light, clean and sober. It is a solution to the decarbonation of the automotive industry but what will make its success it will be first and foremost that it will be cheaper to produce, use and maintain than a traditional car, “explains Matthias Goldenberg.

The Kate K1 will not really be a car, since it will be approved as a heavy quadricycle. This means that the length should be less than 3.70 m, the width will not exceed 1.50 m, the power will not exceed 20 hp, while the top speed will be bridled at 90 km/h. As for the weight, it is limited to 450 kg, excluding battery. “This is more than enough for everyday journeys … and not so far from what a Dacia Spring offers, unnecessarily heavy to our taste”, justifies Matthias Goldenberg. Indeed, these characteristics may be suitable for many everyday uses. But there are two others, more problematic. The first is the ban on heavy quadricycles from circulating on the fast and urban motorways, which will necessarily limit customers. The other concerns the ecological bonus, limited to € 900 against 5.000 € for traditional electric cars. A false problem according to Matthias Goldenberg: “These aids are called upon to be reduced or even disappear. We can estimate that when we arrive on the market, taxation will no longer be a handicap. We will even have a decisive advantage with a price of 15.000 € excluding aid, with correct equipment, five stars at the Euroncap crash test (quadricycles category) and a feature worthy of the name: five doors and four places.””

A more economical mobility solution than the petrol car

Kate wants to offer a car at the most limited usage cost. “In Cerizay, our employees spend on average between € 200 and € 400 in fuel not months. The cost of electricity for a K1 will be much lower. And we provide leasing offers at € 100 per month. Thus, we intend to reduce the cost of mobility, which is constantly increasing. We offer an economical and viable solution, especially in the campaign, where it becomes difficult to bear the cost of fuel. The K1 will be able to ensure everyday journeys, alongside a thermal vehicle used for a few long journeys per year, a punctual use which corresponds to an acceptable expenditure of fuel.””

Kate has large ambitions for her light car, which will be available in a full range, starting with a utility version. But if the young manufacturer reaches the levels of production he hopes, it would be a historic event. Traditionally, the category of heavy quadricycles has always been a market niche limited to a hundred annual copies, precisely because of the constraints cited above. Even Renault, with its Twizy, failed to move the lines. There is certainly a craze around this category, with the launch of the Eon Wez and Microlino, but there is no guarantee that customers be at the rendezvous.

Nevertheless, the conception of the Kate K1 will revolve around these ambitious objectives. Because the targeted benefits will require a platform in a stamped sheet metal, which requires heavy industrial infrastructure. The upper part of the chassis will be tubular, to be able to more easily offer several different bodywork. “We will be closer to a small car than a large car without a license,” says Matthias Goldenberg. A bet that joins that of Microlino, a small car inspired by Isetta and offered by the Swiss scooter specialist, microphone. To carry out the production of the K1, Kate will have to move, the 800 m² premises of our Moke not allowing such production rates. For the moment, the new management remains discreet on the subject but ensures that the future factory will be located “less than 10 km from the current one, the know-how being important in the region”. And the implementation of this tool will require several fundraising.

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