Lightweight Urban Electric Microcars: An Overview

Due to the possible consequences of global warming and exhaustion of fossil fuels in the near future, world countries have turned to renewable energy resources. As a result, big automotive companies have begun to focus on the design and production of electric and hybrid vehicles. Having designed in 1835 for the first time, electric vehicles started to be worked on with the invention of electric motor and battery. The electric vehicles made in these periods had problems such as short range and short battery life. With the solution of range and fuel problems, electric and hybrid vehicles have taken a place in the global automotive market again in the last 20 years. As a derivative of electric vehicles, microcars responded to another increasing problem of traditional vehicles: oversizing. Microcars have been designed as electric cars with engine technology by focusing on electric motors. They have decreased the redundant size of the traditional vehicles and will be an alternative solution to rapidly increasing traffic problem in cities. In this study, comparisons between conventional and microcars from variable aspects are made, and the demand for microcars is revealed. Basics of the microcars are introduced.