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Retro designs and modernized classics should keep consumers afraid of switching to Electric car to take. Hardly anyone does it more consistently and better than him microline - which is finally ready for series after five years. Almost at least.
Bentley, Porsche, Mercedes - anyone who looks into the front gardens of the villas in places like Zollikon or Küsnacht knows why the shores of Lake Zurich are often called the Gold Coast in this area. The Ouboter family also has their place here. After all, father Wim is the uncrowned kickboard king, made the scooter the hipster's favorite toy and, in the best of times, made a fortune with up to 80.000 micro-scooters a day.
But there is a car in his parking lot that doesn't really fit here: the Microlino. Just 2,50 meters short, 1,50 meters narrow and less powerful than the music system of a Porsche Panamera, it is the alternative to ostentation and pomp.
Isetta as a role model
"Our cars are too big, too heavy and too complicated - regardless of whether they have internal combustion or electric drives," says the visionary. “Up to 15 electric motors for one seat alone and 2.500 kilos of technology to carry 75 kilos of people - proportionality looks different,” the man in his late fifties grumbles and looks in love at his minimal mobile.
The Microlino is also a bit larger than the original Isetta. But around 500 kilos is an announcement, unlike the Smart, not two, but three of its cars fit in a conventional parking lot, and when it comes to driving performance, Microlino is closer to the original than a modern small car: where the Isetta has a 250-cylinder single-cylinder motorcycle in the rear Cubic and 12 PS rattled and only managed 85 km / h, an electric motor with 20 kW / 27 PS and a top speed of 90 km / h hums. The lithium batteries with 14,4 kWh should last for 200 kilometers.
With his sermon for the disarmament of the car, the Swiss, who wants to get the Microlino running together with his two sons, but without the foreign capital of profit-hungry investors, cleverly warms up an old idea: Because his Microlino is as simple as it is Sympathetic answer to a society that lives its automobile freedom in abundance and therefore moves far too much sheet metal:
Small cars like the Isetta, which served as a design model for him, the Messerschmitt cabin scooter and, strictly speaking, the Fiat 500 or the VW Beetle, on the other hand, were born out of misery in the post-war years. Simply constructed and cheaply manufactured, they could not cost much if they were to reach broad sections of the population. Their engines therefore had just enough power that they did not hinder the flow of traffic, comfort was written in small letters and a second color or, if necessary, heating had to suffice on the equipment list.
Make minimal mobility attractive
But the recipe worked and entire nations became mobile again. Messerschmitt, for example, has built 30.000 cabin scooters, the Isetta has over 160.000 copies and it was not for nothing that the Beetle was the best-selling car in the world for decades. Ouboter now wants to repeat this success of minimal mobility with the electric vehicle on a much smaller scale and therefore preaches renunciation in a charming way - and compensates for the deprivations with such a cheerful mood that you feel quite sublime at the wheel of the Isetta.
When the Ouboters speak about the Microlino in their wonderful Swiss German with an English management touch, they are not only conjuring up memories of the time of the economic miracle, when the Isetta became the Italian answer to the VW Beetle. Much of what they say is also reminiscent of recent automotive history, when a Swiss person once set out to reinvent the car. Because slogans such as “Reduce to the Max” or “Life is simple” are suspiciously reminiscent of the Micro Compact Car by Swatch inventor Nicholas Hayek, which was originally thought to be electric and which then became the Smart.
This year at the IAA
Of course, the concept for the Microlino has been around for a few years. Because the tin dwarf has haunted trade fairs for five years, has now been completely redesigned, especially for the benefit of safety, and with Tazzari and Artega, the Swiss have already worn out two designated production partners. But now it should be ready soon: They want to show the production car at the IAA in Munich, shortly afterwards the first deliveries are to begin at prices from 12.500 euros and from 2022 - like the original - they want up to 10.000 Microlinos in Italy again Set the year on the 13-inch wheels.
Strictly speaking, the Microlino is not a car at all - even if the driver needs a driver's license. The two-seater is designed and approved as a light vehicle of the L7E category. That's why he doesn't need ESP or airbags, which will soon be available as options.
That is why it cannot weigh more than 450 kilos without a battery. And that's why it doesn't go faster than 90 km / h, which feels much faster in the kissing ball. Especially when the sliding windows are fully open and the folding roof reveals a view of the sky after a flick of the wrist. Especially since the Microlino is primarily made for the city, where it swims briskly in traffic, is always at the front at the traffic lights and, at the latest, outperforms everyone else in narrow old town streets or when looking for a parking space. Because he not only comes through and around every corner, but also always finds a place.
Modern inside
But the Swiss are not only moving with the times when it comes to the drive system, but also when it comes to the ambience: on the outside, an LED strip at the front dares to venture out, as is the case with the ID models from VW, and after opening the refrigerator door, you can go around the free-standing one The steering column has climbed onto the wide, continuous bench seat, sitting in the middle of the here and now. Finally, behind the steering wheel, there is a digital cockpit and instead of switches there is a small touchscreen on the door handle that stretches across the entire bow.
An eye-catcher from the outside, modern interior, a lively driving experience and electricity for up to 200 kilometers - this is how the Microlino becomes the first model with which the category of small cars could finally come out big. Because it is not nearly as expensive as the Smart, you sit more comfortably and drive better than in the Renault Twizzy and it is much closer to a car than a Citroen Ami with its 45 km / h and the value of a city bus that has been washed too hot.
But above all, the Isetta 2.0 has so much charm that you can hardly stop laughing. Not the driver because he feels like Gregory Peck when he was driving through Rome on a Vespa with Audrey Hepburn, and not the passers-by because the Microlino arouses more cuddling longings than any other car since the rebirth of the Fiat 500.
"Knutschkugel"
However, sympathy is also required with this car - especially if you decide to take a ride. Because a certain closeness is inevitable with this format. It is quite possible that the new Isetta will therefore keep the old nickname despite a few more rough edges - and continue to operate as a Knutschkugel.
The chances for spontaneous rides are not bad, Ouboter reports. Because as vain and spoiled the audience in Zurich may be, the Microlino steals the show from every Maserati or Mercedes: "The car is an absolute womanizer, with which you can score better with women than with any sports car."
