Micro-Vett
Micro-Vett was an Italian company manufacturing electric vehicles. History Beginning Micro-Vett was founded in 1986 in Voltana di Lugo (RA) by three shareholders including Mr. Galli and Mr. Giacomoni. A new four-wheel electric vehicle, similar to current quadricycles, the Lady, was developed and built from scratch. Starting from 1989 Coop. Car, a cooperative from Imola, gradually acquired Micro-Vett shares becoming majority shareholder and transferring the headquarters to Imola. At that time, the management faced difficulties related to manufacturing vehicles and decided to focus solely on electrification components. Consequently, Micro-Vett started a partnership with Bedford for the electrification of Rascal. In 1991, after the bankruptcy of parent company Coop. Car, even Micro-Vett was declared bankrupted and, after a brief period of inactivity, it was taken over by Mr. Gaetano Di Gioia, already manager of his buyout by Coop. Car. 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 Zebra batteries provided an energy density about four times more than lead-acid batteries. Micro-Vett created many prototypes including Eurocargo in association with Iveco and different units of Porter with improved range. Since 2001 Micro-Vett fleet expanded with the introduction of electric Daily and Ydea, a quadricycle made by Casalini. However, the high cost of the improved Zebra batteries severely limited the market penetration, that was still dominated by the electric Porter. Another innovation was an Daily in a plug-in hybrid version, first manufactured in 2004. By placing an electric motor on the shaft, the vehicle could be propelled by either the diesel engine or the electric motor, ensuring a unique flexibility of use. The battery could be both charged from the electrical grid and the diesel engine when the car was in use. Iveco was, however, not interested, leading Micro-Vett to directly market the vehicle with a total sale of approximately 600 units between 2004 and 2011. 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 Fiat Doblò in an electric version. This vehicle was also sold directly by Micro-Vett to final customers, as the