The Microlino is an electric bubble car, often referred to as microcars, that looks like a modern take on a classic BMW Isetta. Swiss mobility company Micro has spent the last few years working out the kinks in the innovative electric vehicle’s design and is now ready to begin production this spring.

With the production line nearly complete, the company is giving us our first look at how these unique little rides come together. [3]

Figure 1. Micro shows off production line for its adorable electric microcars, first units coming in March

Figure 1 shows Although it looks like a car (more or less), Microlino is described by its designer as “not a car”. This is true both literally and figuratively. This is because it is actually classified as a quadricycle in Europe (it is similar to the classification of low speed vehicles and three-wheeled motorbikes in the United States, so there are less restrictions on the category).

The design is built on a four-wheel foundation, but with one front door and two seats. The Microlino production facility was built in Turin, Italy. Initially, production was scheduled to begin by the end of 2021. But, like much in the last two years, the changes are now part of the plan. [2]

Team Explain:

“Our goal was to deliver the first vehicles to customers within the end of the year but the worldwide supply chain chaos is affecting us like many other carmakers. Despite our preparations to order crucial parts way in advance, the situation has gotten much worse and is now affecting more and more parts. Now, even commodity parts like simple connectors for the wiring harness have become scarce and have lead times of up to 50 weeks!

We are already producing vehicles with the current production set-up but at a much lower rate due to the missing parts and the shortage of larger quantities. These cars are used for additional testing and process optimization.

What does this mean for the start of production and the first vehicles delivered to customers? The situation forces us to postpone our start of production until we have all the necessary parts. With respect to that we plan to start production mid of March 2022 in a slow ramp-up and plan to deliver the first customer vehicles in April/May in Switzerland and soon thereafter in Germany. The good news: we are going to make up for the delayed production start later, by having a faster ramp-up in the second half of 2022.” [1]

References:

1. https://electrek.co/2022/01/07/micro-shows-off-production-line-for-its-adorable-electric-microcars-first-units-coming-in-march/
2. https://autobala.com/adorable-electric-microlino-microcars-are-heading-for-production-in-italy/294428/
3. https://electrek.co/2022/01/07/yamahas-production-ready-futuristic-e01-electric-scooter-seen-taking-part-in-first-test-rides/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Micro shows off production line for its adorable electric microcars, first units coming in March, pp. 70