Modern Version Of The BMW Isetta Bubble Car Goes Into Production With Electric Powertrain

It’s been 56 years since BMW stopped production of the famous Isetta and a Swiss company plans to reintroduce us to the concept of the single-door, two-seater city car with the new Microlino.

Measuring just 2.4 meters long (about 7.9 feet), the Microlino offers room for two passengers on a bench seat and the ability for cross-parking, which given the front-mounted door allows the driver and passenger to get out directly on the sidewalk.

Power is provided by an electric motor with 20hp and 110Nm (81lb-ft) of torque, which gives the Microlino a top speed of 90km/h (56mph), more than enough for driving in the city. The company will offer the tiny electric car with two battery options: a small 8kWh one with a driving range of 126km (78 miles) and a larger 14.4kWh with 202km/h of range (125 miles).

Charging via a conventional domestic power socket will fill the battery in four hours, costing just 1,5 euros, while a Type 2 connector drops the time to just one hour. Production will start towards the end of the year by Italian manufacturer Tazzari, which owns 50 percent of Microlino AG.

Despite its tiny footprint, the Microlino offers 300lt (10.5 cubic feet) of luggage space while the bare-bones character of the interior keeps the cost down. Other cost-cutting measures include the electric motor being a modified version of what you would find in a fork-lift while the door handles come from a Fiat 500.

The plan is to build 100 cars this year and 1,500 to 2,000 cars in 2019. Production rate will eventually rise to 5,000 cars annually. The company has already received more than 7,200 orders for the Microlino, which starts from 12,000 euros (around $13,600 in current exchange rates).