If you are familiar with the BMW Isetta, the weird bubble car with a door in the front produced in the 50s, than this Microlino should look very familiar to you. Two Swiss brothers are ready to bring back the classic egg shape to the streets of Europe and China.
Oliver and Merlin Ouboter whose father, Wim made million off of kick-scooters have plan to revive unique shape of the Isetta with their Microlino.
The Microlino will come with two battery configurations, an 8 kWh version good for 74 miles, and a 14.4 kWh version good for 133 miles. The Microlino is strictly a city car (unless you are feeling really adventurous) with a top speed of only 55 mph coming from its 15 kW (20 hp) motor.
Oliver has cited statistics showing that the average car journey involved only 1.2 passengers and a distance of less than 22 miles to justify the niche for this car.
The Microlino is expected to start at 12,000 Euros ($13,738), making it a very cheap option for those that don’t really leave the city. Make no mistake, this car is very bare bones, just one look at the interior will tell you that, but it is a sub $15,000 car after all.
There are many city EV cropping up to try and capitalize on the market. The SOLO that we reported on last week is just one of many city EVs that the Microlino will have to compete against. No doubt the cheerful body design will be the main selling point of the car and the thing that might sway the purchase decisions of some customers. Parking the car perpendicular to the street and being able to exit right on to the street will be a very novel experience for the customers of this car.
The brothers plan to build 1,500-2,000 of these next year and hopefully increase to 5.000 per year. If they continue to do well, output could reach 10,000 units a year. The pair have partnered up Italian manufacturer Tazzari, who has a 50% stake in the project. Tazzari has produces and EV of its own, so there will be some EV building experience on board.
The car plans to appear only in Europe and China as front-facing door will be unlikely to pass the crash standards in the US. But who knows, maybe someone else will bring the bubble car to the US.
What do you guys think about the design of the car? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: Reuters
