IT may not be what the purist wants but the electrified Mini Moke recharges interest in the iconic 1960s ‘buckboard’ design and has the ability to spark a new audience.

The electric Moke — called the MOKE Californian — has been available in Europe since earlier this year and is now being marketed in the US to mark 40 years since the original Moke was last sold in America.

It is made by MOKE International, a UK company that owns the original 1964 Moke trademark in more than 100 jurisdictions.

The EV version has a top speed of 80kmh and a range of 120km per charge.

Clearly aiming this at the potentially lucrative US market, the manufacturer said the charge is enough “to cruise Route 101 down to Malibu Beach from Santa Barbara.”

You would then have to allocate a four-hour coffee/lunch break to get it recharged for the one-hour return journey.

MOKE International said it is the fist 1960s brand to go fully electric “reinventing the Mini Mike through zero-emissions technology to continue its legacy as a design icon and beloved beach accessory.”

The company’s CEO, Isobel Dando, said in a statement: “It’s great to be able to offer the US market a genuine MOKE car for the first time in 40 years. The original Moke Californian represented an incredibly important chapter in the company’s rich history; we are proud that the MOKE lives on and can be enjoyed in the electric era.”

The company has put a sticker price of $US41,900 ($A65,700) in the US, a heap more than the $US32,900 ($A51,600) that the same car sells for in the UK and Europe.

As a bit of history, the Moke is based on the original Mini that was created by Sir Alec Issigonis and prototypes first started development in the UK as “The Buckboard” in 1959.

It was designed to be a lightweight all-purpose vehicle — not necessarily competing with 4WDs — and even had the ability to be collapsed to be parachuted into war zones. Commercially, it was targeted at farmers and trades people but quickly found a new market as a resort runabout.
It stopped production in 1993.

The electric MOKE is built in Northamptonshire, England by Fablink Group. It has a 33kW rear-mounted electric motor which makes the 800kg car capable of a 0-55kmh time of 4.3 seconds. —— NEIL DOWLING