Fascination: Microlino: The kissable ball

It took a long time, but now he has made it. After the successful Kickscooter, the Swiss company Micro is bringing its plump, cuddly Citymobil Microlino onto the streets after all. The visual similarities with the former BMW Isetta are obvious, but otherwise the two city mobiles, which separate almost seven decades, do not have much in common. If you look at the dimensions and technical data of the Microlino, you will see that, as a lightweight vehicle, it is more in a class with the electric fun maker Renault Twizy. With a top speed of just 90 km/h, it is not for motorways and hardly anything for country or expressways, but a pure city mobile, which brings with it more everyday use than the Opel Rocks-e, which with its small license plate only 45 km/h is allowed. Its turning circle: 7.40 meters.

For the fact that the 2.52 meter long Microlino is a halfway grown-up car that is only suitable for the city centre, the price of 22,690 euros for the two-tone Pioneer variant as the starting model is more than steep. The fact that the Swiss smooch ball, which is just 1.47 meters wide and with its largest 10.5 kWh battery pack, can still cover 177 kilometers before it has to be plugged in does not change that. The basic model with the small 6 kWh battery, which will be available later, costs at least 17,690 euros – also more than handsome. All versions are powered by an electric motor in the rear, which delivers a manageable 13 kW / 17 hp / 89 Nm. That’s enough for a traffic light sprint from 0 to 50 km/h in five seconds. The standard consumption of the Italo-Swiss: almost six kWh per 100 kilometers.

The narrow basic package offers, among other things, LED headlights, digital instruments, synthetic leather and 13-inch wheel set with steel rims. In addition to space for two adults, the small mobility scooter offers 230 liters of luggage space for up to three crates of drinks. “Normal cars are basically much too big and too heavy for everyday use,” says brand manager Ann-Christin Koch, “the Microlino, on the other hand, is small, light and efficient and thus not only saves energy, but also another important resource: Space.” As with the original Isetta, entry and exit are through the large front door.

In addition to the middle battery of the Pioneer version, there are two small battery variants with manageable six and 14 kWh, which ensure ranges of 90 and up to 230 kilometers. The Microlino charges up in three to four hours when plugged into a household socket. The micromobile, which was produced together with the Italian contract manufacturer Cecomp in Turin, weighs a manageable 435 kilograms. Instead of the tubular space frame usual in the light vehicle class, the tiny car has a self-supporting body made of a steel-aluminium mixture. Distribution is carried out by the mobility service provider Astara, which already sells SsangYong, Maxus and Isuzu vehicles in Germany after the model can be ordered online. “After an intensive period of preparation, we are now looking forward to launching the Microlino on the German market. The product perfectly embodies what Astara stands for as a mobility company,” explains Olivier Sermeus, Managing Director of Astara Western Europe. “We are confident that we will make many customers happy with such an inspiring product in the future.” Deliveries are scheduled to start in the second quarter .