Automotive

Cute electric bubble car gets official pricing ahead of imminent production

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Pricing for the Pioneer Series Microlino has been set at CHF 14,990 - or roughly €18,500 - with the first deliveries to Swiss customers expected to start shortly
Micro Mobility Systems AG
Pricing for the Pioneer Series Microlino has been set at CHF 14,990 - or roughly €18,500 - with the first deliveries to Swiss customers expected to start shortly
Micro Mobility Systems AG
The Pioneer Series Microlino L7e vehicles are available with a 10.5-kWh battery pack for up to 177 km of per-charge driving, and come in either Torino Aluminum (shown) or Atlantis Blue
Micro Mobility Systems AG
A limited run of 999 Pioneer Series Microlino micro cars will be produced, a number chosen in honor of Micro Mobility Systems being founded in 1999
Micro Mobility Systems AG
Once the Pioneer Series Microlinos have been snapped up, Dolce and Competizione editions will begin production by the end of this year/beginning of next, followed by the Urban model in Q2 2023
Micro Mobility Systems AG
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Following the launch of the limited-edition Pioneer Series electric micro car last month, Micro Mobility Systems AG has now opened up an online configuration tool to Microlino reservation holders and confirmed pricing.

The road to production of the Microlino electric bubble car began with a very Isetta-looking all-electric design at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. This version didn't reach production, but underwent a retro-modern redesign in 2020 in collaboration with thousands of reservation holders.

Three Microlino 2.0 series editions were announced last year, followed most recently by the launch of the first 999 vehicles to go into production at the company's dedication manufacturing facility in Turin, Italy.

The first Pioneer Series micro cars – though the Microlino is technically classed as a L6e/L7e quadricycle in Europe – are being made available to Swiss customers, who are now being invited to put down a deposit of CHF 500 and access an online configurator to confirm options. The final price for this initial production run has been set at CHF 20,990.

The Pioneer Series Microlino L7e vehicles are available with a 10.5-kWh battery pack for up to 177 km of per-charge driving, and come in either Torino Aluminum (shown) or Atlantis Blue
Micro Mobility Systems AG

"Despite the challenges in the worldwide supply chain and a multiplication in prices of certain raw materials and doubling in battery prices, we are satisfied to launch a premium and unique light electric vehicle at an affordable price," said company co-founder, Merlin Outober.

As detailed previously, they will each come with a 12.5-kW motor and 10.5-kWh battery for a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) and a per-charge range of up to 177 km (110 miles). Series color options are Torino Aluminum and Atlantis Blue, a sunroof is included, as well as portable Bluetooth speakers. And Micro has even opted to include an original Micro kickscooter in the trunk of each numbered model.

A bunch of test-drive events will be announced at the end of this month, ahead of the first deliveries to Swiss customers during the local summer.

A limited run of 999 Pioneer Series Microlino micro cars will be produced, a number chosen in honor of Micro Mobility Systems being founded in 1999
Micro Mobility Systems AG

For customers outside of Switzerland, reservations can be made without making a deposit just yet and access to the configurator is available now. Germany and Italy are expected to be the next markets open for business in Q4 of this year, followed by the rest of the EU in 2023.

Once production proper begins, the Microlino will be available with 6-, 10.5- or 14-kWh battery packs and prices will start from CHF 14,990 including taxes or roughly €12,500 excluding VAT. The Dolce and Competizione editions will be first with a production window of Q4 2022/Q1 2023, with the Urban model due for release in Q2 2023.

"The demand that we see is huge and we are considering increasing our capacity even further in the future, "said co-founder Oliver Outober. "For this year, we focus on quality, not quantity."

Source: Micro Mobility Systems AG

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10 comments
guzmanchinky
Well, I mean it's perfect for a super dense city, but I'd almost rather be on a motorcycle in a crash with anything larger than itself...
Kpar
That's what the world needed, an electric Isetta.

Should solve the overpopulation problem pretty quickly.
Jinpa
The OEMs never provide range charts comparing trips on flat land (is there any is Switzerland?) versus hilly, in warm versus cold weather, or with some versus all accessories working (heat, air conditioning, lights, wipers, etc.) and rage and what trip speed. It is time for writers and editors to search out or demand that data, and for governmental regulators to require that it be provided with the sales and owner documentation. ICE cars waste so much of the energy in the gas tank that owners seldom care. But to EVs of all kinds (simple hybrid, PHEV or "pure" EVs), those factors, especially combined, can cut range by half. Try driving a PHEV in cold weather on hilly roads at night and at 75 mph, and see how much range you get compared to the sales-literature prediction.
ljaques
$21,248USD for THAT? They can keep their electric Isetta, thanks.
martinwinlow
@Jinpa - Surely the simplest system would be to give range at 20C on a dry flat road with no wind for various speeds; say 20/50/70mph? The only significant variable then is the heater/aircon (and you don't *have* to use them) - everything else makes relatively little difference assuming they all have regen. Been saying this for the last 10 years+!
martinwinlow
(... and I should probably add...) What matters is that we all then have a difficult to fudge metric that we can usefully compare with other vehicles, not that the range figures are necessarily accurate.
Knut
@Jinpa - regular EV gets 6km per KW, well this should double that - so at least 120km / 80 miles. With 10 000km per year, the cars are used less than 200km per week.
It is high time that the grumpiness ends. A fan for heating in the winter consumes exactly the same as the ones we have at home, say 800Watt. This produces the same heat as in the living room but is contained in the cabin. When you drive for 20 minutes, that is 1/3 of an hour, 266Wh - 500Watt/h both ways of the 10.500 Watt.
I am just baffled that they can complain about the prices of batteries. This has dropped to a third, and the value of the battery is less than €5000. Allow these batteries to be capable to charge the house and grid - earn while parked, these will be very common soon in Europe (cfr. the success of BMW i3).
pete-y
put in some airbags and crush beams and it will offer enough protection for minor in-town shunts.
michael_dowling
pete-y: No crush space. That kills the concept for me.
SplineDoctor
Cute and neat. But I would not be in it in case of a collision when the streets are full of the popular 2+ tonnes SUVs.