Microlino (2023): First Test Drive Video Review 

Memories! a friend had an Isetta, old even in 1966. When the roof developed a leak, the cheapest repair was to push an umbrella out of the hole and open it which meant the passenger had to hold on to it! 😁

This is exactly the use for EVs, quirky urban runabouts, rather than trying to emulate SUVs and luxury cars where their limitations on range will always be a liability

We had an Isetta way back when my 4 kids were all small - it was our second vehicle so often it was me as the part time working mum who used it. I did at times drive places with all 4 of my small kids lumped into the back - no seat belts in those days, front or back ! Looking back it seems dangerous, but we were in the country so often it was only me on the road anyway - going shopping or taking the kids to school ! I loved that little vehicle, very zippy ! The year was about 1967 or so - we only kept it for a couple of years.

The steering wheel moved out attached to the door in the original Isetta which made it easier to get in and out, they have missed that trick in the new version.

So cute!! 😍 I want one so much. I would love it and hug it and kiss it and call it George

With the front opening door it is great if you park at 90 degrees but if you park along the street the next close parked car will prevent you from getting back into the vehicle.

Think it is pretty neat, practical, good value for money no. Hope a bunch of rich people buy them so when they heavily depreciate someone can afford it who may daily drive it.

It is quick, it is quiet and it is overexpensive!!!!

The price of this death trap is outrageous. It will have no significant impact on the mobility market - other than being a toy for a few rich, but crazy people.

This could be a better future for EVs, not an enormous mega-priced status symbol.

I had a BMW Isetta in 1967/8. On the roads of the time it was OK but it had been fitted with mini-wheels and the brakes would bind on on any warm day. The battery was below the bench seat and the seat springs would touch the terminals if a passenger also sat down. I took it Motorail from Paddington to Falmouth on the Sleeper for a holiday. The little gear lever in the side panel was 'upside down and back to front' but one got used to that. I would be terrified to drive one in today's fast and heavy traffic.

The website quite clearly states 496kg for the weight, not 250kg.

The seatbelt being across the neck is a bit worrying! Hadn't noticed that on previous reviews. Then again, didn't hear that it dropped over 200 Kgs either so that's a big improvement over previous versions they put up for review.

That one's only big enough to burn your shed down😂

Italian designed Isetta was original refrigerator on wheels. This retro isetta micro EV will compete with Fiat Topilino and Citroen Ami as quadracycles. They are perfect light weight city cars for short trips. In Europe, take train for long trips.

Although the Citroen Ami does not have the same top speed. The Ami would have been the vehicle to use as a comparison for city use.

Chuck the battery away, fit a highly efficient petrol engine 100mpg. Perfect

Well, in miles, that's a range of 140 miles at a top speed of 55mph. For around town driving that's not too bad!

Perfect car for Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿......with their 20 mph urban speed limits. Always keep you hands on the steering wheel !

Considering the high price for this car, you would at least think that they would have electric side windows and not cheap old-fashioned sliding windows.

Does it come with a Gas Engine.? I love old Isettas.

It couldn't survive in the average big American city, as the first pothole it encountered would be its demise.

I love the way this guy presented the facts, precise to the point with a slight bit of humour. Well done.🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

I am in America and I am 6’2” and 340 pounds and would love one of those cars. They are so cute and perfect for my purposes.

18,000 Euro's ! ..... 😂😂😂 I'll take a go anywhere Fiat 500 anytime please.

Beautiful ! It's as if Isetta had never stopped making their car . Great for running around town . Only thing though, it's too expensive, as you need to have another car for going places .

If someone Parks in front to close you can't get in or out the same problem with the original

A luxury golf cart..... just harder to get in and out of......

The Isetta was an Italian vehicle. BMW bought it. This is why the Swiss company who produces the Microlino gave it an Italian name

55mph is fast enough in the UK. It's definitely capable

Does it have any safety features in case of a crash?

Memories. In 1950's Berlin our neighbor ran his toilet paper (very precious then) distribution enterprise using one of those. Wonder how Bübchen is doing now.

so we are back to the 60's BMW isetta ??? nothing new there and it is regress not progress

I can’t see any advantage of this car. Way to expandier and way to insecure. Most common type of car accidents in cities are side impacts, by sitting almost outside in this car (the walls to protect you are not the thickest) and missing impact protection like airbags or any structural protection like energy absorbing structures are not helpful to make this city Stromer safe. Also in the case you are the one hitting another’s car side, when the door is in the front which makes it impossible to leave the car after a crash and also reduces the chance to survive this crash unharmed or not severely injured is falling to zero so in my opinion completely fail in construction and fail in development. Also i don’t believe that increasing the consumption of electricity (in this case not that dramatic like other models like Tesla with its 100 Ah batteries) is really helping us to save the world. We have to lower the consumption of electricity and energy and we have at the same time to reduce the average use of cars and the emissions of those. We have t9 consider to change our behaviours in personal transportation, I don’t think we all should use public transport but we really should rethink if we always need the car or if we sometimes could walk, use the bicycle or even the public transport. Also should we overthink if we really need cars with more than 2,000 or 3,0000 ccm engines and with more than 200bhp? Most countries of the world have speed limits, so why do we need such fast cars? I also can’t understand why acceleration is so important with en EV? That’s contradictory to what it is made for. The car should bring me safe, comfortable and environmental friendly from A to B. It doesn’t need to be a speed racer and it doesn’t need high acceleration. If this is an argument to sell EVs I think that the society is not ready yet to save the world but just don’t want to shine as environmental unfriendly. Even if wind turbines and even solar panels are not the most environmental friendly products by itself.

It seems to me that the driver's seat belt is being used incorrectly because in the event of braking or a collision it is visibly a danger to the neck, which would not happen if it were installed below the armpit.

Getting in and out isn't QUITE like the Isetta. The Isetta's steering wheel was attached to the door, so when you opened it up, the wheel swung out of the way.

90 kmph is still a very decent speed.

I’ve owned lawn mowers with more power! And more leg room as well! More a wearable than a drivable! And don’t worry about it hitting your heart brother, it won’t do any damage!❤🚗

What about safety: controlled crash zones, safety bags? Thx!

'let's just take a short look' - unintentional comedy at it's finest ;)

It’s crap just for the fact that the steering wheel should move away with the door🤷‍♂️

Microlino's are simply the coolest transport pods. I only wish they could at least hit 100kph or marginally faster. Perhaps a performance model in the future.

( I think these cars are going to get smaller and smaller until, it's a steering wheel and a chair, have fun , 😊!)

Imagine presidential convoy with that car having the bossman

spectacular...

I think that the protruding key on the column is a big design flaw.

The car is for tweens. Which he should have already known.

Totally cute car😃

so bub, jetzt machst das nochmal, dass wir dich auch verstehen ;-)

Only 230 Km? Laughs in Texas. 😂

About time we get a car that sparks joy

I'm still very sad Opel never build the RAK E i so wanted to own that thing, back then it was the ideal car for driving to work.

Give Noddy my regards.

does it double as a coffin after you meet one of those SUV everyone buys?

First review that has mentioned the cosiness of the bench seat. 👍 Have yet to see any published dimension of this.

I'd like to see him getting in and out though 😂

Opening that door into the wind could be ....... interesting!

This needs to be future of urban commute

The newest Dominos pizza delivery car... ;-) Actually, the "reverse trike" design is much more stable than the single front wheel trike. The single front wheel design tends to tip over in the turns to the front opposite corner of the turn at any speed (Can-Am motorcycles have used the double front wheel trike design for years for stability). Reducing the rear to a single wheel could significantly impact the weight/performance. That front door ingress/egress seems a pain, though...

With a more boxy shape you could make a far more practical car with the same small dimensions.

Checking the price dor the extended range with a sunroof, 27000 Euros. For that kind of money, one can buy a real car. Interesting for half the price.

90 km/h!? Dude, that's not a problem. Just avoid motorways, and you'll not be more in the way than any old fart. And you are easier to pass anyway. But yeah, I'd only use it in the city anyway. But yeah, when it costs more than an actual car? No thanks.

I like this but the complete lack of any kind of safety gear and beign allowed to do 90k around traffic doing much more is basically a tragedy waiting to happen. Even at 50k you would be lucky not to get seriously hurt. Why can't someone make something that looks this cool but has Smart car like safety?

What political insanity dictates that I can't buy one in Australia?

Excellent. Just the job for the city. I had and I settable, a Messerschmit and a Bond back in the day

Ludicrously expensive.

Will it be sold in the USA ?

Makes so much more sense than the baffling Citroen Ami...until you look at the price.

No air bags? Heater/window de-froster?

Of course it was the Iso Isetta which BMW built under licence.

Nice presentation. But I believe that the Isetta company was building the original under its own company for years before BMW bought them out.

Are you sure that you didn't mix up the weight of these two variants? I think the Microlino Light (Class L6e, 8kW max, 45km/h max has a weight of 250kg, while the class L7e variant weighs more ... But my information isn't reliable.

I like it very much, but it would never work in Los Angeles -- a city of fast cars and people who flaunt the law. Thanks for the demo.

Got a Tesla , but fancy one of these to bob around town in , easy parking, looks great 😊

Wonder how those tiny wheels would handle speed bumps

cute, imagine getting into a collision, that cutie would go rolling down the road like a pool ball 8 . SOLID RED BALL , CORNER POCKET. With all that i would probably purchase one, if everyone else was driving a pool ball . Rack em up

Price is a sick joke.

I love the way how you DON'T show the GET BEHIND THE WHEEL-or out for that matter. the original was a piece of crap and this isn't gonna sell in the thousands( Imeanhundreds) either. Why the hell on earth designers, engineers or whatever they call themselves nowadays spend even a minute on these worthless rubbish.

“You better be good friends, or.. in love with your co-driver”. 😂 😂😂

I like it. But I'll definitely take out a life insurance policy of I buy one. HOLD ON!! Did I hear 80 THOUSAND EUROS!! NO WAY!! 😄

Price it at under 5000 Euros and it will sell very well. 18,000 Euros? Forget it. This is a project for hipsters with too much money. Why do manufacturers persist in making cars that only do city driving well and pricing them more than vehicles that do everything well?

A brand new modern beatle went for 15k, this is 13k and nowhere near as good. To light weight (what about accidents?, you'd be dead in a split second) not enough power/range, front opening is a nightmare, needs side doors...also too quircky in the shape, looks like an egg head. What happened to making sensible small quality ev that can park anywhere?.

Your for £50k! Descent range? I think not.

This will fail mainly because it’s ugly. Also in North America distances are huge unlike Europe. A max limit of 230 km 143 miles is useles for any return trip to a distance of 70 mi to and back. Let the Europeans have them.

Meh, my Tata Nano cost €2700, has 5 doors, seats 4 and a trunk, power steering, automatic transmission, a proper stereo and gives me 300 km range on a 20 litre petrol tank. The AC freezes despite a massive glass area and 40 degree C ambient temperature.

The price point is ridiculous. £19k for medium urban range. Way too expensive for a little car. What's the point?

Right so, 68HP/metric tonne and a top speed of 55MPH should be fine on anything other than dual carriageway and motorways. The fact is that 90% of drivers speed 99% of the time.

We can't have it in Australia!.....our government prefers big SUV's.......so sad!

Oh my Lord. These should be used at Collingwood to get around the base and nothing else 😂😅😂

Watch for chaos followed by a skinny black guy with coke-bottle glasses and super-high-rise pants jumping out and asking “did I do thaaaat?”!

How safe is this guy on the road? Chatting away, looking away from the road for long spaces for no reason as he checks up on specs whilst looking down at his phone notes all the time. Good job there weren't any cyclists or pedestrians around or some of the local idiot drivers where I live. Maybe he'd feel at home here though, he could test out if it's survivable if it goes under a lorry.

It is full of problems, requires to be brought back to address issue’s all the time! A waste of money! Fact is it’s terrible to drive, terrible at climbing hills! Can‘t be compared with the legendary Isetta, because it offers much less room!

Another advantage of such a small electric car is that it will be quicker for the emergency services to extinguish any fire, and with the added bonus of less air and water pollution than a full sized EV!.😊

90 km/h top speed, no airbags or crash protection? You even can't go out as the driver until the passenger has left at first? Good look in an accident! This is not the future of mobility, this is a back drop.

Adorable. I want one!

This is NOT a car it is 3 wheels on a go cart body, it is a covered wheelchair. Drive directly into your house and right into the shower when coming in from the outside. In Texas you could store in in the back pocket of your jeans - very convenient.

Ride a bike. The car is outdated as a form of selfish transport. They no longer work. Cities free of cars would be safe spaces to enjoy. Visit the Netherlands and see how things are done, my German Friend!

Put one more wheel on a micro scooter for stability. Okay, a seat for some comfort. Well, how about a roof? Dang, it's too heavy! Anybody has an extra motor?

How do you get out of the car after an accident, which the majority are hitting something in front! How is this any better than golf cart

The King? I'm thinking the clown! In America it wouldn't work. I couldn't even see it from my truck. LOL