Electric two-seat Microlino will enter production in the summer
A new electric two-seater with styling inspired by the classic Isetta ‘bubble car’ should enter production in the summer, its makers have confirmed.
The Microlino is a small electric vehicle targeted at inner-city life and described as ‘the ideal mix between motorbike and car’.
As well as seating for two, Micro says the car will have storage capacity equivalent to three beer crates, and will be offered with two battery size options that offer a range of 78 or 124 miles.
It has a top speed of 56mph, weighs 513kg and will cost €12,000. That will make it £10,533 based on today’s conversion rates, but will also likely require post-Brexit import taxes to be paid, bringing the price to around £13,000.
It has a front-opening door that allows drivers to park nose-in to the pavement and exit directly onto it, while final production models will also have an LED light bar across the front.
The Microlino was first announced in 2016 and by January 2018 Micro claimed to have 8,000 reservations (315 of which were UK customers) ahead of delivering the first production vehicles in December that year.
However, in its latest update showcasing the first Microlino 2.0 prototype, the company said ‘developing a vehicle is extremely difficult and we have learned that the hard way.’
This year it plans to build five prototypes – approximately one month apart from each other – ahead of beginning the homologation process to make the car street-legal. It hopes to complete this in the summer, and begin production of the first customer Microlinos a few weeks after receiving paperwork from the EU.
