The future of city cars is Micro

If you have young children, there’s a good chance you already own a Micro product – the beautifully-engineered three-wheeled scooters that are many children’s introduction to personal transport. The same brand has now made a foray into the electric car market with the Microlino.

The diminutive EV draws heavily from the bubble cars of the 1960s – and for good reason. If cars must operate within towns and cities, it’s clear they must be clean, limited in performance and lightweight –  the electric Microlino weighs a little over 500kg.

With a range of 230km, the Microlina will cost from £10,400 when it goes on sale.

A Trojan 200 microcar from 1960 designed by German aircraft manufacturer, Heinkel and built under licence in the UK by Trojan Cars

When bigger isn’t better

When the German-British statistician and economist Ernst Schumacher  said “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction“, he was making the case for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies. It’s a shame car makers did not take note.

Cars are getting heavier. An appetite for creature comforts like air conditioning and electric windows has helped pile on the pounds, but it’s the car occupant safety features that have seen the family runabout become ever more tank-like. Everybody wants to remain safe on the roads, but the heavier and faster the next car, the more robust your own vehicle needs to be. You need only look at how the original mini, or Fiat 500 or VW Golf have become bloated in their middle age. Unfortunately, the real losers are those outside the cars.

So serious is the threat from heavier cars – driven largely by the current fashion for SUVs – that The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has called for a ban on SUVs in towns and cities in a bid to cut cyclist and pedestrian fatalities. The risk of severe injury or death for a pedestrian is higher in collisions with Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and vans compared to passenger cars because of the way they are designed: SUVs and vans are stiffer, they have higher bumpers and are heavier.”

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, breakdown cover  and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.