Die Isetta kommt zurück (als Microlino)

This Saturday I'm going to make a test drive in a Microlino. Just for fun And who knows, when the point comes that I cannot keep my Twizy on the road economically anymore, maybe the prices of second-hand Microlinos will have come down to a more reasonable level. It sure seems like a fun little car. I'll report with a couple of photos, of course.

I am very interrested in your driving report.
Many Twizy drivers are very disappopinted from the driving skills and the volume of the Microlino inside.

I expect it to give a similar driving experience as the Twizy, but we'll see. I only have it for an hour, although maybe I can extend that a little bit. The dealer is only about 15 mins away, so I'll take the Twizy to get a nice conversation started

The things that worries me most about the Microlino are the price and the (lack of a) decent support infrastructure. Renault has a large dealer network that at least have all the documentation and many of the parts for the Twizy etc. With vehicles like the Twike, Tazzari Zero, Think Zero (which I have all driven) and the Microlino the problem is that if you have large non-mechanical problem, there's a good chance you're on your own.

And about the interior space: the ability take a passenger AND some cargo seems like an advantage above the Twizy to me. But again, we'll see.

I do have to say, I am warming up to the L7e vehicle category. I hope more vehicles will appear on the market in the coming few years. They're fun!

... if you and the expected Passenger are close.. in Curves _very_ close..

Ich fahre nun schon seit rund 11 Jahren Twizy und fast 2 Jahre Microlino Pioneer (10.5kWh).

Darumwarte ich gespannt auf deinen Testbericht.
Wobei unsere Eindrücke nicht 1 : 1 verglichen werden können, da mein Microlino schon 2 Jahre alt ist. Dein Testfahrzeug wird sicher neueren Datums sein: also mit diversen Verbesserungen.

So today I had a short (about 45 mins) test drive in a 90 km/h Microlino. We did mostly city driving, and a bit of 80 km/h road.

To summarise it up front: we had much fun. I think driving the thing is at least as much fun as the Twizy. Different, for sure, but still fun. Maybe just enough fun to warrant its high price.

Let's break it all down. Note that I'll mostly be comparing it to my Twizy.

• Looks. I've been driving my Twizy for just about 5 weeks, and I've gotten used to people looking at me, children pointing at me, and having a chat with people when you park. With the Microlino, you have all that in at least double quantities And it does look very cute! How the door opens is almost a show, and guarantees you attention. Older people will recognise its roots in the BMW Isetta.
• Interior. The interior is less spartan than the Twizy's interior. There is some fabric here and there, because it doesn't have to be water proof. It's more "car like" than the Twizy. The materials are generally nice. I even noticed right away that the side windows were real glass, which is simply better. The reverse/neutral/drive rotating knob feels solid. It feels more nice to use than the buttons in the Twizy. It has a "normal" hand brake, which feels less fragile than the Twizy's.
• Comfort. The seats are a little bit more comfortable than the front seat of the Twizy, and much more comfortable than the Twizy's passenger seat. I did have the problem that, when I had adjusted the seat to the correct distance from the pedals, the steering wheel was a little bit too far away. There is no way to adjust this. In the Twizy, this works out better (by accident, I'm sure). Not a huge problem for the short drives the Microlino is intended for, but it was noticable. Also, maybe not a problem for everyone. Especially if you drive with a passenger, you have less room in the Microlino than in the Twizy. I drove with my 10 year old son, and that wasn't too bad, but with an adult next to me it surely would have been very cosy. The Twizy's suspension system is notoriously harsh. The Microlino's is much softer, you don't get jarred by potholes etc as much. This is actually a world of difference for comfort. The Microlino has ventilation (which worked well) and heating (which I did not test as it was 28 degrees C...). Now I want this in my Twizy The Microlino is probably properly weather-tight, which the Twizy definitely isn't. Getting in and out the Microlino is (slightly) more difficult for the driver, when compared to the Twizy, but much easier for the passenger. One thing: you should be disciplined and always remove the car key before you get out, otherwise I am certain you're going to break it off when you bump it during ingress or egress. It's in a silly place. Starting the car takes ages. They should fix the software, it's hilarious how you sit there staring at a black screen.
• View. While the View from the Twizy isn't bad, the large front window, the real glass side windows, and the rear window does provide a better view of the world around you, there's no doubt. Slight weird thing: no rear view mirror. Being used to the Twizy I don't mind, but I wonder why it doesn't have one. I'm on the tall side, and the top of the front window in the Twizy is on the low side for me. Sometimes annoying with traffic lights. In te Microlino, the top of the window seems to be a little bit higher, and little bit closed, which helps for taller people like me.
• Road handling. I didn't test it, but I have the feeling that the Microlino might accelerate slightly faster than the (stock) Twizy, but the difference can't be great. In normal traffic, it probably doesn't matter at all. Both vehicles can participate in normal traffic without any problems. The Microlino has a slightly higher top speed, but I can't see how that really matters in practice. The suspension is much softer, and while I don't mind the Twizy's stiff suspension, most people will probably prefer how the Microlino feels. The Twizy's handling can be more fun (bombing it around roundabouts will probably never get old) but the Microlino's handling feels more "real-car-like" to me. Steering is fine, maybe a little bit softer than the very direct steering of the Twizy but the difference isn't great, and anyway it matches the vehicle just fine. Of course the Microlino is perfectly at home at city speeds, but the short stretch of 80 km/h (for safety and legal reasons, of course I did NOT accelerate to its max speed of 90 km/h, because that would be illegal, right....?) showed that it's perfectly fine at those speeds as well. Not much difference in stability between the Microlino and the Twizy, I think. Regenerative breaking is more refined than the Twizy's. It feels like you have more control, and at least the display shows in more details how the power is flowing. Parking 90 degrees is actually possible with the Microlino. The Twizy is juuust a little bit to long for it.
• Noise. This could have gone under comfort, but the difference is large enough to mention is separately. The Twizy is very noisy inside under all circumstances, that's a fact. The Microlino is much quieter. Not as quiet as mid-sized M1-category car, for sure, but the motor/gearbox whine has been much more effectively suppressed. It also has a different character, it sounds more "spaceship-like" then the harsher mechanical noise of the Twizy.
• Cargo space. There's just no comparison. With the Twizy, you essentially have to choose between carrying cargo of carrying a passenger. With the Microlino, you can do both. And the cargo space is large, too. This makes me jealous.
• Charging. The Microlino has a type 2 Mennekes charge port. That's handy for public charging, I don't know if it comes with both a type 2 / and a regular (Schuko) plug cable, but you can essentially charge everywhere. However, the charge power is limited to 2 kW I think, and with the medium or large battery (10 / 14 kWh) I think this is on the slow side. In a car like this, I don't expect 2C fast charging, but a full 16 A / 3,6 kW would have been nice. 4/5 kW would have been even nicer.
• Price. Everybody can look up the price, and form an opinion about it. It is expensive, for sure. However, in the Netherlands, where I live, L7e vehicles don't pay vehicle excise duty, insurance is cheap, most electricity I can get for nearly free from my solar panels, and maintenance should be cheap. Also, the quality of the materials used, the workmanship etc appears to be quite good. I still need to do some calculations, but the TCO over, say, 5 years, may not be too bad. Still, you have to make the high initial purchase price work, somehow. I see people comparing this to cheap Dacia EVs, but in NL at least those will have high fixed costs, so I don't really see that comparison work.

So, is this better than the Twizy? Well, insofar as you can compare the two vehicles, I'm going to have to say yes. Comfort is vastly better, it's weather-tight, quieter. Longer range on the medium battery. Ventilation/heating/cargo space finishes that deal. The price brings the comparison to a more balanced level, in my opinion. You pay more, but you get more. Before my test drive based on what I read and saw in some youtube reviews videos, I was convinced the Microlino was too expensive. Now, maybe, my opinion is shifting. Maybe you get what you pay for with the Microlino.

Am I going to buy one? Heck no I depleted my savings account to buy the Twizy + accessories. But, I've made all my cost calculations for the Twizy for a period of 5 years. Maybe I'll keep it longer, maybe not. Who knows how much a second-hand Microlino will be in 5-6 years time? I'll surely be looking into that when the time comes. In any case, if you can make a test drive somewhere near your, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, it'll be much fun!

Danke für den ausführlichen Bericht.
Der Microlino ist schon irgendwie "kultig".
Aber ein Vergleich mit dem Twizy fällt mir schwer.
Bei dem Preis kommt bei mir die Vernunft durch, dann Vergleich ich den Microlino mit einem Dacia Spring. Da bekomm ich sogar die Ausstattungslinie Extreme,der kann dann eigentlich alles besser.
Gut, er fällt nicht so auf, ist im negativen Sinn größer und natürlich fehlt ihm der Kultstatus.