The Microlino is a proposed all-electric lightweight four-wheeled

quadracycle A quadracycle is a four-wheeled human-powered land vehicle. It is also referred to as a quadricycle, quadcycle, pedal car or four-wheeled bicycle amongst other terms. Quadracycles have been in use since 1853 and have grown into several fami ...

marketed by

Micro Mobility Systems Micro Mobility Systems Ltd, known as Micro, is a Swiss company that produces urban vehicles such as kickscooters and the Microlino, a small electric car which was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016. In the United States, Micro's ...

, designed for urban mobility. Noted for its front-opening door recalling the

bubble car Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are oft ...

s from the late 1950s, the Microlino has two seats, a trunk, a folding sunroof and can be charged with either a household or a type 2 plug. The Microlino is designed as a lightweight

quadricycle Quadricycle refers to vehicles with four wheels. In 1896 Henry Ford named his first vehicle design the "Quadricycle". it ran on four bicycle wheels, with an engine driving the back wheels.Brinkley, David, ''Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His ...

(L7e), to combine aspects of a car and motorcycle. Due to its engineering approach, the Microlino has 50% fewer parts than a typical automobile and weighs 513 kilograms. Six years after a debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the company's lawsuit over a copycat manufacturer, and an extensive redesign, a special introductory edition was projected for manufacture in mid-2022 at the company's factory in Turin.

Overview

Micro Mobility Systems debuted the Microlino at the 86th Geneva Motor Show in 2016. The vehicle was developed together with the

Zurich University of Applied Sciences The Zürich University of Applied Sciences (German: ''Zürcher Fachhochschule'', ZFH) is a governing body composed of four separate universities. It is located in the city of Winterthur, with facilities in Zürich and Wädenswil, is the second la ...

. The idea for the Microlino originated from Wim, Oliver, and Merlin Ouboter, the Swiss family behind the Micro Kickscooter. With research showing the average car in Switzerland is occupied with 1.6 passengers for an average trip length of , as well as that car parking spaces are scarce in urban areas, they realised that modern cars are over-engineered for urban use, especially considering environmental factors like global warming. They designed a vehicle for space-saving and efficient urban mobility. The Microlino is designed to be small and manoeuvrable like a motorcycle, while offering weather protection. The design recalls 1950s

Isetta The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became k ...

s. The Microlino was also inspired by the Iso

of 1953. Like the Isetta, the Microlino features a single front door to access its interior, which is designed for two people, and a tailgate that opens to a cargo area of 230 liters (8 cubic feet).

Concepts

The ''Microlino Lite'' and ''Microlino Spiaggina'' are two concepts presented at the

2022 Paris Motor Show The 2022 Paris Motor Show (in French ''Mondial de l'automobile de Paris'' or ''Mondial de l'Auto'') is an international auto show, which was held from October 18 to October 23, 2022, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, in Paris, France. It ...

that preview future production models.

Production

In 2019 a collaboration between Microlino and

Cecomp CECOMP Spa (Centro Esperienze COstruzione Modelli e Prototipi) is an Italian automotive company established in 1978 by Giovanni Forneris and is based in La Loggia, Turin. The company specialises in developing prototypes and models for car manufac ...

, an Italian automotive company established in 1978, was started in order to refine both the design as well as the engineering of the Microlino 1.0 to the more modern Microlino 2.0. Cecomp is also the manufacturing partner for series production.

References

{{reflist Electric cars Cars introduced in 2016 Production electric cars Microcars

Overview

Concepts

Production

See also

References