Europe’s small electric microcar makers since 1990

Most of these cars are quadricycles in European law: the light L6e, held to 45 km/h (28 mph) and in France and Italy open to drivers of 14 with an AM licence (more in licence-free cars), or the heavier L7e.source 1source 2source 3 The Hotzenblitz and the Mia were full cars, and the Cree SAM a three-wheeler.source 4source 5source 6 Most of the makers failed for lack of money or of sales; the few that lasted include the CityEl, the Twike, the Kewet and the Think City, and the big makers’ entries include the Renault Twizy and Citroën Ami.source 4source 6source 7 The makers follow in the order they began to build, or tried to.

In 1989 a group of engineers in the Hotzenwald, in the southern Black Forest, gathered round the electrician Thomas Albiez, decided to build an electric car, and in 1990 founded Hotzenblitz Mobile at Ibach. Alfred Ritter, of Ritter Sport chocolate, joined the backers that July.source 4 The first prototype ran 19 months after work began; Schwaller Motorsport of Switzerland developed the frame and chassis, and MeDes Industrial Design helped prepare it for production.source 4 It was built from 1993 in the halls of the Suhler Fahrzeugwerk at Suhl, in Thuringia, and shown at the IAA in 1993 and 1995 and at Geneva in 1994 and 1995.source 4 German Wikipedia calls it the first car developed in Germany purely as an electric car and sold to customers, and the only one until the BMW i3 of 2013.source 4

It had a steel-tube frame, an aluminium sandwich floor and a plastic body, hand-laid glass fibre at first and later through-coloured ABS. A 12 kW (16 PS) motor, 16.5 kW at peak, drew on 14 lead-gel batteries, 10 kWh and about 350 kg of them, and gave about 100 km/h (62 mph) and up to 70 km; the car measured 2,750 mm (108 in) and weighed 830 kg (1,830 lb), with a diesel heater by Webasto. There was a City with doors and a Buggy without; most were Buggys.source 4 auto motor und sport praised its detail solutions.source 4 Money ran out in June 1996, before series production could begin, after about 140 cars that German Wikipedia calls pre-series in character.source 4 Owners first met at Dogern in August 2004, and many have refitted their cars with lithium batteries; one such conversion, by Kruspan Engineering, ran the 3,000 km WAVE rally of 2011.source 4

The Tonino Lamborghini group, led by Ferruccio Lamborghini’s son and unconnected with Automobili Lamborghini but for the name, showed the Town Life at the Bologna Motor Show of 1999.source 8 Town Life S.p.A. bought the bankrupt Iso works at Magione, in Umbria, and began production in January 2000.source 8 The Ginevra had a 505 cc petrol or diesel engine and the Helektra an electric motor; both came as coupés or convertibles in glass fibre, 2,520 mm (99 in) long, and in Italy could be driven from 14 on a moped licence (more on such cars in licence-free cars).source 8 A Ginevra GTB Sport was announced in 2006, and examples are kept in the Ferruccio Lamborghini museum.source 8

Daniel Ryhiner’s Swiss company Cree designed the SAM as a three-wheeler whose single wheel is at the back, with two seats one behind the other. About 80 were built in 2001 for public trials round Zürich and Basel.source 5 In 2003 Cree laid off its staff and filed for bankruptcy, and its shareholders, Ryhiner among them, bought it back. In mid-2009, by English Wikipedia’s account, Impact Automotive Technologies of Pruszków, in Poland, said it was developing a faster SAM with a longer range; that account is muddled in its dates.source 5

Matteo Maestri founded Estrima at Pordenone in 2008, as a start-up of his family’s firm, Brieda, and the Birò went into production in June 2009.source 9 It seats two side by side in 1,740 mm (69 in) by 1,030 mm, which its maker says makes it the smallest four-wheeled electric vehicle on sale. Two 48 V hub motors in the rear wheels give 4 kW together, with a “boost” lever, and 45 km/h, or 55 km/h with a controller update; a lead or lithium battery gives about 40 or 70 km.source 9 By its maker’s account it was the most registered electric vehicle in Italy in 2010 and 2011, counting two, three and four wheels.source 9 At the end of 2012 the Rosso family’s Red Circle Investments bought 30 per cent.source 9

The Mia grew out of the electric branch of Heuliez at Cerizay, in the Deux-Sèvres, and its concept car of 2008, the Heuliez Friendly.source 6source 10 Mia electric was formed in July 2010 under Edwin Kohl, with about €30 million of private and French government money, and Murat Günak designed the car.source 6source 10 A pre-production car was shown at Geneva in March 2011, production began that June, and sales to the public followed in 2012.source 6source 10 It seated three, the driver in the middle, had two sliding doors, and was 2,870 mm (113 in) long; the Mia L had four seats and the Mia U was a van, both 3,190 mm. It was a car in law, not a quadricycle.source 6 English Wikipedia gives its motor as 13 kW; French Wikipedia gives it as asynchronous, of “24 ch”.source 6source 10 Before VAT, the Mia cost €12,255, the Mia L €12,781 and the Mia U €11,730.source 6

In June 2013 its main shareholder was Focus Asia, chaired by Michelle Boos, who spoke of the new ownership with confidence.source 10

Only 201 were registered that year, against a target of 700–900. Production stopped in December 2013, receivers were appointed on 12 February 2014, and the Niort commercial court ordered liquidation on 12 March; the shareholder had put in only €2 million of the €36 million promised.source 6source 10 In July 2015 the production line, spares, batteries and five remaining cars were auctioned for about €900,000.source 10 On 10 February 2022 the criminal court at Niort sentenced Boos to three years in prison, one of them suspended, a €150,000 fine and a permanent ban from managing a company, for causing the bankruptcy by enriching herself (more in frauds and never-weres).source 10 A Swiss firm, Fox Automotive, announced a Mia 2.0 in 2020.source 6

Uniti began as an open-innovation project at Lund University and became a company in January 2016, under its chief executive, Lewis Horne.source 7 More than 3,000 investors in 40 countries put money in, and customers placed orders at MediaMarkt shops in Stockholm and Malmö after test drives in virtual reality.source 7 A fully automated factory with Siemens at Landskrona, for up to 50,000 cars a year, was announced in 2017, and a pilot plant at Silverstone, in England, in October 2018.source 7 The production Uniti One of 2019 was to seat a driver in the middle and two passengers behind, with a 50 kW motor and a range of 150 or 300 km, from €17,760 in Britain.source 7source 11 In 2021 investors were shown a new model, the Zero, which the magazine Filter found to be a Chinese Zhidou D3, resprayed and given a new bumper.source 7source 12 The Lund District Court declared Uniti bankrupt on 11 March 2022, and no car was ever delivered to a customer.source 7source 11 An earlier investor bought what was left and relaunched it under Paul Birch.source 7

The Yoyo comes from XEV, an Italian and Hong Kong start-up; it was designed in Turin and is built in China by Shandong Fulu Vehicle Industry.source 1 The production car was shown at the IAA in Munich in September 2021. It is a heavy quadricycle, 2,530 mm (100 in) long and 850 kg, with a 15 kW motor and a 10.3 kWh battery that can be swapped through the rear bumper, for 80 km/h and about 150 km.source 1 XEV claimed that it had only 57 parts and that everything but the chassis, seats and glass was 3D-printed, a claim best taken as advertising.source 1

Silence, an electric-scooter maker in Barcelona, now Acciona Mobility, announced the S04 in October 2021 and began selling it in 2022, aiming at €7,500 without a battery and a battery subscription of €20 a month.source 2 It carries two 5.6 kWh batteries built like wheeled trolley cases, which can be pulled out and wheeled indoors to charge, or swapped. As a light quadricycle it has 6 kW and 45 km/h, as a heavy one 14 kW and 85 km/h (53 mph), and with both packs it runs up to 149–175 km. It is 2,330 mm (92 in) long and 1,560 mm wide, with a 310-litre boot.source 2

Kilow, part of Savoy International in the Haute-Savoie, showed La Bagnole, designed by Léo Choisel, at the Paris Motor Show of 2022, and brought three cars to the show of 2024.source 3 It is offered as a light quadricycle for 45 km/h or a heavy one for 80 km/h, with one or two 5.6 kWh batteries for 70 or 140 km, and weighs 283 kg (624 lb).source 3

Squad Mobility of the Netherlands was founded by Robert Hoevers and Chris Klok, both formerly of Lightyear. Their Squad Solar, announced in 2019, is a two-seater 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long with a solar roof that adds about 21–30 km a day, two 2 kW motors at the back and four swappable packs of 1.6 kWh, at about 270 kg; it is offered for 45 km/h or 70 km/h, from €6,250.source 13 Production was first promised for 2021 and has been put off again and again; the maker’s website now says 2026.source 13

Hotzenblitz owners met for the first time at Dogern in August 2004, and many still convert their cars to lithium batteries.source 4 Town Lifes are on show in the Ferruccio Lamborghini museum.source 8 The photographs on this page also show an Estrima Birò at the car museum in Trenčín, in Slovakia, Mias in car-sharing service in Niort and Angoulême, and Silence S04s parked along the canals of Amsterdam. For none of them has an auction result been found.