Advert
One of the cars that escaped the notice of many people at the Geneva show was the Mia Electric MicroBus.
This has been designed by the former Volkswagen chief designer Murat Günak. The vehicle has a central driver’s seat enabling the driver to get in and out of the car on both sides. This seat arrangement provides the driver with a good view and the passengers with good legroom. Two sliding doors, as well as cutouts in the roof and floor, help with access to the car.
There are three models of the vehicle, the mia, mia L, and mia box van. The four-seat mia L has three back seats.
Thanks to the lightweight design concept, the three-seat model weighs only 750 kg including the standard 8kWh battery. The vehicle has a top speed of around 66 mph.
The standard lithium iron phosphate battery is capable of covering a distance of around 50 miles per charge and it can be fully charged in three hours using a regular household power outlet.
The battery can have short and intermittent charges. A ten-minute charge is sufficient for a journey of 8 km. The power costs are approximately 1.50 Euro for 60 miles.
As an option, a more powerful 12 kWh battery is also available.
There’s a two-year guarantee on every mia, and a guarantee on the battery for the first three years or for the first 50,000 kilometres.
The aim is for the mia to be produced in an annual capacity of at least 12,000 units. For 2011, mia electric aims to supply 6,000 vehicles in Germany and France. Production will start in June 2011, but the mia can be ordered now.
The mia costs from 23,500 Euro, the mia L starts at 24,500 Euro, and the mia box van starts at 22,500 Euro.
