Micro-Vett
Industry | Automotive |
---|---|
Founded | 1986 |
Headquarters | |
Products | electric vehicles |
Micro-Vett was an Italian company manufacturing electric vehicles.
History
Beginning
Micro-Vett was founded in 1986 in Voltana di Lugo (
The Electric Porter
The company from Imola continued the production of the electrified Rascal, but given the lack of involvement of the vehicle manufacturer, Micro-Vett started a collaboration with Piaggio The electrified Porter was a great success in the Italian market, thanks to purchasing incentives. It was manufactured from 1994 to 2003 in about 5,000 units. The lead-acid batteries provided a range of 60 km and a top speed of 65 km/h. Piaggio delivered the vehicles without the endothermic engine to Micro-Vett, which in turn converted them to pure electric vehicles. The sale of the complete vehicle was almost exclusively done by Piaggio. During this period the company took part in many sport events for electric vehicles, including the 24 hours of Turin and the Monte-Carlo Rally for alternative energies propelled vehicles, winning prestigious results.
Zebra batteries and the new vehicles
Starting from the end of the 1990s, the technology of
Lithium batteries and FIAT range
Already in 2005, as low-cost lithium batteries for automotive use started appearing from Chinese manufactures, Micro-Vett began working on prototypes equipped with this technology. The company began the manufacturing of
In 2009 the company also developed the e500,[4] electric version of the new Fiat 500, which was presented at London Motorshow by the English dealer Nice Car. The electric
Prototypes and projects
Throughout its history, Micro-Vett implemented many electric-powered prototypes, including the bus Albatros in collaboration with the local public transport company of Rimini, a Ducato[5] with endothermic engine on the front axle and electric motor on the rear axle in partnership with Al-Ko, a three-wheeled motorcycle, a bimodal hearse, an all-electric excavator in collaboration with Venieri and a bimodal boat for carrying 70 people. Micro-Vett also developed CHAdeMO protocols for rapid charging of its vehicles at 50 kW; moreover the company also attended many national and European projects, including Green eMotion under the 7th European framework program.
Customers
At the beginning of 2011, the company had a turnover of around 17 million Euros and employed 50 people. The vehicle range included EdyOne, e500, Fiorino, Doblò, Ducato and Bimodal Daily. Main customers were
Bankruptcy
Due to both the electric vehicle market contraction caused by the
Attempted relaunch
Following several failed bankruptcy
References
- ^ (in Italian)Bimodal Daily PresentationArchived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Electric Doblò". Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ (in Italian)Electric Fiat Fiorino test in Norway
- ^ (in Italian)Micro-Vett e500, electric version of the Fiat 500
- ^ (in Italian)Hybrid Bimodal Camper by Micro-Vett
- ^ (in Italian)De profundis Micro-Vett
- ^ (in Italian)Micro-Vett restarts from Vicenza
- ^ (in Italian)Micro-Vett: from the deep to Cima