EV Technology Group: a petrolhead’s interpretation of EV

I love driving

I really love driving. For me, cars have always been about something more than just getting from A to B. Driving has always given me a powerful sense of both pleasure and possibility. My first car was a Smart ForTwo — a funny sight for those who know me as I’m two meters (6ft 7in) tall. I loved that car: its quirkiness and clunky mechanics made me really enjoy driving it and felt each time that driving it was an experience. While most cars will get you from A to B, nothing is as memorable as mastering a car with its own personality and unique character. The experience is absorbing and the satisfaction almost physical.

I watched the emergence of mainstream electric vehicles with interest, but without much emotional involvement. For supply chain reasons and the particularities of electric engines, electric vehicles tended towards an amorphous profile, promising a characterless driving experience.

The ubiquitous jelly-mould profile of electric vehicles is the design implication of electric vehicles’ key challenge in reaching the mainstream audience: running out of electrons before you reach your destination. Range anxiety, as it’s called, has always been uppermost in buyers’ minds. When the design imperative is to minimise drag to maximise range, your vehicles are bound to end up looking much the same.

From electric vehicle to vehicle

But range is no longer an issue amongst higher specification electric vehicles, with the average range in 2022 having reached 440 Kms, versus an average range for a gas-powered vehicle of 482 kms. In this critical sense the electric vehicle has become simply vehicle, the electric dimension of electric vehicles is no longer a benefit that demands a sacrifice in utility. With matters of basic practicality no longer paramount, the opportunity arises to address all the other emotional reasons people drive, and on the basis of which they chose their cars. When you are no longer preoccupied primarily with the vehicle’s ability to get you to your destination, all the other reasons to choose a car reassert themselves: luxury, investment, identity, heritage, performance, passion and, of course, beauty. And for the more affluent drivers these characteristics have always been delivered by smaller, less mainstream brands.

And critically, from a commercial perspective, those iconic brands have built up significant brand equity over their rich histories, and often come with a cult-like following of enthusiastic buyers. This is the foundation of our strategy.

Electrifying iconic driving experiences

At EV Technology Group, we own iconic brands and work with them as they make the transition to electric. By giving these brands a new lease of life in the electric age, we introduce those iconic driving experiences to a whole new generation of drivers.

We started with MOKE: a car conceived in the 60s by the inventor of the Mini to be a light weight jeep substitute but now the vehicle of choice for the holiday goers across the globe. Thanks to the likes of Bridget Bardot, it became particularly associated with St. Tropez and the Cote d’Azur. The team at MOKE is relaunching the brand on an electric drive train to make MOKE the must-have vehicle to get you between your summer house and the beach.

With EV Technology Group, we hope to create a continuous line between the glorious traditions of motoring, with all its passion and panache, and the many advantages of the electrical age.

We are hereby championing the joy of motoring.

And that, for me, is a petrolhead’s interpretation of EV