Cars have grown too big and cost too much. Our roads can’t handle them, and our wallets feel the strain. The all-electric Mika Mino wants to change that.
Walk outside and look around. When did you last see a properly small car? Unless you’re part of a classic car club, it’s probably been a while.
The Autobesity Problem
Cars keep getting bigger. Much bigger. Autobesity has become so common that 52% of all cars sold in the UK are now wider than the standard parking space of 1.8 metres.
This isn’t just a UK issue either.
The European Union’s proposed M1e class of electric vehicles could still measure up to 4.2 metres long. That’s bigger than a Renault 5 or Mini Electric, even if it’s not quite as massive as a BMW iX or Hyundai Ioniq 9.
It’s progress, but M1e won’t solve inner-city mobility problems. L7 class electric quadricycles like the Citroen Ami and Microlino help address size issues, but they’re not exactly desirable. They also lack basic safety features we expect in cars.
Public transport offers another option for city travel, but it’s often an unpleasant experience.
What if there was a way to navigate Europe’s most congested cities without clogging roads, using public transport, or giving up basic car safety features?
Enter the Mika Mino
Thanks to Mika, there is.
Car designer Nir Kahn and automotive engineer Robin Hall created the Mino. As Kahn explains, it’s an “L7 car with the safety you’d normally get in a £25,000 Renault 5, but for around £10,000 less”.
Based on Kahn’s all-electric Urban Runabout concept, the Mika Mino focuses on three things: low weight, small size, and fun driving. With decades of combined automotive experience, both men believe they have the recipe for the ultimate urban runabout.
The rear-wheel-drive Mika Mino will be “a three seater, pretty much the same length, height, and width as the Smart Roadster from 20 years ago”. For reference, that Smart measured 3.3 metres long – slim by today’s standards.
To keep costs down, the Mino uses 48V electric architecture. It comes with two battery options: a 20kWh unit good for around 120 miles, or a 10kWh pack capable of 65 miles per charge.
The average European city car customer travels roughly 22 miles per day. The Mika Mino offers exactly what’s needed for urban driving – no more, no less. It weighs around 500 kilograms.
No autobesity here.
Robin Hall founded Mika and still runs the company from Warwickshire. Like Kahn, Hall is another leading British automotive engineer who developed his skills during the 1990s and 2000s, when budgets were unlimited and anything seemed possible.
Following the Original Mini’s Philosophy
While working at Rover during Cool Britannia, Hall developed the front axle system for the first ‘new’ Mini, the R50. Before the car’s 2001 launch, it was at BMW-owned Longbridge that Hall learned how to make front-wheel-drive cars fun.
His bosses in Munich told him “this has to be the best-handling front-wheel-drive car in the world”. No pressure.
Sir Alex Issigonis’s original Mini inspired Hall. “I couldn’t think of anything better than an original Mini as inspiration,” he says. “They’re an absolute hoot to drive, because they’re light, and have a steering ratio of 15:1.”
A 15:1 ratio means for every 15 degrees the steering wheel turns, the front wheels turn one degree. This setup requires less input and creates a go-kart-like driving experience.
“Since the R50, whenever I’ve designed anything sporty, I’ve thought ‘well, let’s have a steer ratio of about 15:1’,” Hall continues. “I’m certain the Mika Mino will feel a bit like an original Mini in terms of fun factor.”
The steering isn’t the only Mini-inspired feature.
The battery sits close to the rear axle, which houses an integrated drive system (IDS). In EVs, an IDS typically combines electric motors and inverters to save space, improve efficiency, and reduce production components.
“This is the cheapest, lightest possible setup,” Hall explains. “Like the original Mini, it proves that cheap and simple can work exceptionally well. I’m certain the Mika Mino will handle extremely well and turn out to be enormously good fun.”
Redefining L7 Safety Standards
While L7 cars need better driving engagement, safety matters just as much. Drawing on decades of composites experience, Kahn explains the approach behind making the Mika Mino the safest car in its class.
“We’ve been working with a company that has interesting technology for cost-effective, lightweight composites,” he says. “They normally use that technology to take weight out of M1 cars.”
“What we’ve done here is use that same technology and turned it on its head. Rather than taking weight out of a heavier car, we’re putting safety into a lighter car.”
The Mino will use a multi-material composite safety cell that absorbs impact during collisions. As for the exact materials? That’s classified.
“I can’t say the exact materials we’re using, but they’re not 100% carbon fibre, and they’re not 100% composite,” Kahn notes. “Having supermini levels of safety in a car that measures 3.3 metres long is something quite unique.”
What’s Next for the Mino?
This raises one major question: How are Kahn and Hall so confident in their product when a physical Mika Mino doesn’t exist yet?
“We’re working with a company that specialises in FEA, or finite element analysis – the dynamic simulation of composite materials in crash situations,” Kahn explains. “We’ve conducted a full feasibility study, including front impact and side impact simulations, showing the vehicle will achieve a five-star Euro NCAP rating.”
The results show they’re on target. The next stage involves building real prototypes and crash testing them to validate the simulations.
Beyond crash testing, they need partners willing to help put the car into production.
“We’ve had lots of interest and positive feedback – 90% of the components are there, and we’ve had healthy conversations with medium and large-scale manufacturers,” Hall says. “We’re waiting for the right investor to help us reach the next stage.”
What comes after the prototype stage? Kahn describes it as “turning the wick up”. There’s even talk of a Mika Mino-based Formula E support series.
But that’s for next time – and there will surely be a second chapter in this revolutionary little car’s story.
