Production Version of Microlino 2.0 Makes Its Premiere at the IAA 2021

If you are asking how a completely new car arrived as a 2.0 version, you have missed the first chapters of this story. Summing them up, the Swiss company hired an Italian company to produce the Microlino. It was later bought by a German company that wanted more than just manufacturing the Microlino for Micro-Mobility: it also wanted to sell its own version of the bubble car with a different name.

After a lawsuit, the two parties agreed to part ways in the friendliest way possible under the circumstances. The other company got to produce its own version of the Microlino 1.0 – with some restrictions – and Micro-Mobility got rid of that supplier. We will not name it, but you will easily find which that company was and how much it is charging for its bubble car: about €18,000 ($21,300).

The Microlino 2.0 will cost around €12,500 ($14,800), and it was developed with CECOMP, another Italian manufacturing supplier that ended up being really beneficial to the new EV. The bubble car is now the only one in its class with automotive-grade self-supporting unibody construction. The pictures below, which shows how different the structure of the Microlino 1.0 and the 2.0 are, will tell you all you need to know about this.

This may have been the best improvement the little EV received, but it was not the only one. Peter Müller, Microlino’s CTO (chief technical officer), stressed the new car is 10% more energy-efficient. The peak power increased to 19 kW instead of the previous 12 kW, and the suspension received massive improvements. Instead of a push-rod arrangement at the front and a rigid axle at the rear, the Microlino 2.0 uses McPherson independent suspensions in all four wheels.

The now 24,000 pre-order holders have three derivatives to choose from: Urban, Dolce, and Competizione. The company did not disclose the prices for each of them. However, these versions seem to have been organized from the most affordable to the more expensive.

The Urban has only two color options and is pretty straightforward. This is the derivative that will start at about €12,500. The Dolce offers three more color options, Infinity light LED bars and sunroof as standard equipment and two different interior styles. The Competizione has exclusive matte colors, chrome details, and the same equipment as the Dolce. You can check them all in our gallery.

Microlino 2.0 customers will have three battery pack choices: 6 kWh (for a range of 95 kilometers or 59 miles), 10.5 kWh (175 km or 109 mi), and 14 kWh (230 km or 143 mi). They may seem associated with each derivative. However, Merlin Ouboter – Micro-Mobility CMO (chief marketing officer) – told us that is not the case.

“You can have the big battery pack also for the Urban edition. They are more different in styling and some equipment, like the folding roof and the Infinity LED lightbar which comes standard in Dolce and Competizione.”

Instead of hiring CECOMP to build the Microlino 2.0, Micro-Mobility created a new company to manufacture the bubble cars in which CECOMP has a minority stake. Production capacity will be for 7,500 vehicles per year, which implies Micro-Mobility may take a little more than three years to deliver all cars that have been ordered so far. The Swiss company said it could increase the production rate if necessary, and it already seems it is.

Production should start in 2021, and the first deliveries will happen in Switzerland, followed by Germany. Micro-Mobility said it is open to discussion with dealer groups with any sales model in multiples markets. We asked Ouboter which countries have the most pre-orders nowadays.

“Germany is the number one, followed by Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom.”

What is still open to discussion is how Micro-Mobility will manufacture the Microletta, its three-wheeled electric motorcycle. Presented as a concept a while ago, it received so many reservations (5,000, more precisely) that the Swiss company decided to take it to series production. The Swiss company is taking non-binding reservations and expects it to cost around €4,900 ($5,800).