The last time we spoke about Microlino was in January – when we got an explanation for why deliveries had not started until that point. According to the Swiss company, global supply issues were to blame. However, it expected production to begin around March. In a recent time-lapse video, Microlino shows it may have managed to achieve that goal.
The footage presents the evolution of the assembly lines for the Microlino 2.0 at the Italian factory CECOMP and Micro-Mobility established to manufacture the electric bubble car. By the end of the video, we can see five vehicles going through the production process, from the BIW (body-in-white) starting to get pieces until the car is ready to move on its own.
We may have only seen pre-production units testing the manufacturing steps so far. Anyway, that is a good sign that assembly has either already started – as Microlino wanted it to happen in March – or is close. We have tried to confirm that with the company and will bring you the news as soon as we have it.
The assembly line seems to be as short as the car itself. We know that the bubble car is much smaller than a compact or even subcompact car, but that is far from being the only explanation for that. That could also indicate that CECOMP and Microlino may also have designed a very straightforward and efficient production line. The company is proud to say it presents 50% fewer parts than an equivalent vehicle.
That is crucial to help Microlino make a profit with its bubble car from the very beginning. The base price is now higher than when we last wrote about it: instead of €12,000 (€12,955 at the current exchange rate), the Microlino 2.0 now starts at €12,500 ($13,494). We are also beginning to see the Microlino stores around Europe.
According to the company’s website, there’s a Microlino 1.0 exposed in three places in Germany (Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen, and Munich), and also in Milan (Italy), Lyon (France), Granges (Switzerland), and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). That distribution is coherent with the fact that German customers have reserved the most Microlino 2.0 units so far. If production helps, we should see plenty of them on European streets pretty soon.
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