Some of you might remember the humble Beach Buggy, a converted VW Beetle with a fibreglass shell, a roll cage, and basically no way to keep drivers and passengers warm. They used to (and still do) roam South Africa’s coastline.
They were also seen in all manner of places outside of SA because they were made by a company called Meyers Manx. Manx used to sell Beach Buggies to anyone who was willing to put them together. The iconic vehicle was a fun experience, but what if it was utterly terrifying? Enter the Manx 2.0, an electric Beach Buggy.
Brisk l’il Beach Buggy
The Manx 2.0 is a fully electrified version of the old-school classic, but there have been a few changes. The rear end in particular has been modified because instead of an old VW engine, it’s packing batteries. It needs those batteries to power two rear motors. And those two rear motors are why this revamped Buggy is so scary.
See, a Beach Buggy isn’t an imposing vehicle. Old Beetle motors take a little time to get up to speed. Manx’s new take on the classic is a little faster. There are two versions available and the larger of the two — the 40kWh car — will hit 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds. That’s quite the acceleration for a 750kg vehicle. The smaller 20kWh Manx 2.0 weighs just 680kg.
But they might be worth investigating. Manx claims a range of 480km on a charge for its larger battery version. It’ll run completely silent, and there are a few fancier internal fittings. For the most part, though, it’s old school. There are no doors and passengers are mostly open to the elements. So it’ll be a perfect fishing vehicle, with the added benefit that you have the torque to drag boats to shore if you have to.
The only thing we don’t know is what a Beach Buggy EV will cost. Manx is making 50 of them in 2023, as sort of a pilot program, and hopes to go fully commercial by 2024. The company is inviting folks to sign up as ‘beta’ users now, but we assume you still have to pay for it.