A LITTLE-known licence rule means that a 16-year-olds will be able to buy a car as a new micro-EV comes onto the UK market priced at less than £18,000.
The new motor was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and aims to make city driving more accessible.
The tiny Microlino Lite is set to make its UK market debut as it takes advantage of an unexpected legal loophole.
The company has already produced one bubble car model, the Microlino, which can top 50mph.
However, the new Lite version has been reigned in to allow it to conform to light quadricycle regulations.
In the UK, cars under 425kg (not including the EV battery weight) with top speeds lower than 30mph fit into the AM licence category, the same one used for mopeds, meaning they can be driven by 16-year-olds.
This is in contrast to a full-sized car, which you have to be at least 17 to drive.
As such, the Microlino Lite just sneaks in under the cutoff, with a top speed of 28mph and a kerb weight of just 495kg with its battery, boasting a hefty 12 horsepower.
Customers can opt for a 5.5 kWh battery pack providing 62 miles of range or upgrade to an 11 kWh unit that could see you make it 112 miles.
The car is set to be available in two colours, Venice Blue and Berlin Anthracite.
It also boasts a single seat, bubble-style body, opening sunroof and even a 230-litre boot.
Just make sure not to park it up against a garage door as the hatchback door is actually more of a ‘hatch-front’, with drivers climbing into the cockpit from the front end.
Microlino aims to challenge the Citroen Ami, which has so far kept a stranglehold on the micro-EV market.
No price has been announced but the company has said the Lite is set to be cheaper than it’s £18,000 big brother and you’d imagine it would clock in closer to the Ami’s £8,495 starting price.
Perhaps most remarkably, teens won’t even have to take a full test to buy one as, like mopeds, they can be driven unaccompanied with a Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certificate.
This can be achieved by a one-day course which sees trainees run through some basic drills in a sectioned-off area like a car park, before a brief road test involving manoeuvres like U-turns and emergency stops.
Once passed, drivers have largely free reign except that they must display L-plates, have power restrictions on what sort of vehicle they can own and may not use motorways or carry passengers.
The CBT must also be renewed every two years.
Microlino founder Merlin Ouboter said: “The Microlino Lite is our contribution to making sustainable mobility solutions accessible to an even wider community.
“We recognise the growing need for such mobility, especially among those who want to be safe and protected from the weather without a driver’s licence.”
It comes after we gave readers a glimpse inside the weird and wonderful car collection of Wheeler Dealers star Edd China.
