Micro Microlino Coupe (2024 - ) Electric review

While it’s easy to get swept away by the Microlino’s cutesy looks, in the cold light of day it’s an expensive lifestyle choice. The Lite version is limited to 26mph and starts at nearly £17,000. If you go for the more powerful option, by the time you’ve added two-tone paint and upgraded the interior, you won’t be getting any change from £20,000 and you can buy a Dacia Spring for considerably less. Yet, the Microlino is designed to be a premium product and while this goes some way to justify the cost, it’s not quite as refined as the asking price might suggest. Once you’ve bought your Mircolino it shouldn’t be expensive to run, though. You can charge it overnight from a conventional socket in as little as four hours and although you will still need to insure and service it annually, this should cost considerably less than it would for a car. The cost to the environment is less too, with a claimed 60 per cent smaller carbon footprint than a regular electric car.

The Microlino quadricycle is a new product, but Micro, the brand behind it, is an established Swiss company which started out making scooters. It has since extended its focus on wider sustainable urban mobility and says the Microlino is built to last. As yet, we don’t know how reliable Microlinos will be in practice, but like the Citroën Ami, it comes with a two-year warranty for the vehicle, plus a longer six-year warranty on the battery.

The Microlino does not give you the protection of a car, but its bubble shape will keep the rain out and give you a bit of buffer from the outside world. There are no airbags, but you do get three-point seatbelts and the body is made of steel and aluminium offering more rigidity than an Ami’s plastic panels. There’s also a front and rear crash bar to provide some protection should the worst happen. Despite this we still felt rather exposed as we zipped along the streets of London with mopeds appearing out of nowhere and vans pulling out in front of us. Forward visibility is pretty good, but there’s no rear-view mirror and the sloping shape reduces some of your view out the back, so you need to keep your wits about you.

The interior of the Microlino is rather cosy, but the bench seat is comfier than you’d expect and adjusts by sliding back and forth with just about room for two. In Microlinos with the standard interior there’s grey fabric upholstery with a grey dashboard and side panels. A £590 upgrade to the Premium Interior and Comfort Package gets you vegan leather and faux suede microfibre upholstery. Plus, you’ll also get floormats, some side pockets, a Bluetooth speaker and smartphone holder for the dashboard all of which we feel should get as standard given how much the Microlino costs. If you go for the Lite model the sunroof is another £590, but otherwise it is included as standard and helps to make the cabin feel roomier. It also provides some much-needed ventilation in hot weather given there’s a blower but no aircon, although you do have a heater for winter. The biggest surprise is there’s a relatively decent size boot on a par with full-size city cars, helping to increase the practicality.

If you are looking for a vehicle packed with mod-cons, a Microlino isn’t for you. There’s no CarPlay and Android Auto, but you do get a digital driver display and a tiny touchscreen to control things like the heating. The predominant feature is the front opening door with integrated steering wheel, like the BMW Isetta of old. This, and the small dimensions, allow you to park perpendicular to the rest of the cars on the road and get straight out on the pavement. It’s quite the party piece and the soft close mechanism adds a more premium touch. Due to the complexity of the door, all Microlinos are left hand drive, but it is so small you feel like you sit in the middle anyway and you’ll hardly notice you’re on the wrong side.

There is a Lite version of the Microlino available, but we took the most powerful model out for a drive. This can go up to 56mph, although in central London we weren’t able to go above 20mph. It was nippy, but not quick compared to a conventional electric car. There’s three battery sizes to choose from, with a range varying from 58 to 142 miles. If you spend most of your time doing short city trips you could easily go weeks without needed to recharge. We were surprised by how heavy the steering was at lower speeds making the Microlino tricker to manoeuvre than we expected, and the brake pedal didn’t have much travel so took some getting used to. However, after a short while we were feeling more confident in the Microlino’s capabilities and ready to try out ‘Sport’ mode. We’re not entirely convinced it made much difference to the acceleration, but we loved the little Microlino with rocket graphic on the button and the accompanying higher pitch whizzing noise as we accelerated away from the traffic lights. This was the cherry on the top of a vehicle which made us grin from ear to ear. We had a total blast as we drove along brightening up the streets and being waved at by strangers.