Microcar, how cars without a license work
Current legislation classifies microcars as quadricycles, light or heavy according to their displacement. To drive a microcar 50, therefore, you need 14 years and you must have at least the AM license, to drive a microcar 125 you need 16 years and a B1 license. The scenario has therefore changed and the expression "cars that are driven without a license" is no longer correct. To get behind the wheel of a microcar today you need a driving license, to be achieved with a specific two-phase exam, a written test and a practical test.
Microcar: can two be?
Traveling with two passengers (or even more, in the event that the microcar has more than two seats) is possible. But only if the driver is over 16 years of age. Obviously, the B license allows you to drive microcars. But the machine can't come to our rescue when we're in trouble. It is in fact important to specify that any withdrawal (even temporary) or failure to renew the B license implies a ban on driving all vehicles for which a license is required and, therefore, even microcars.
Automotive technology
The legislation requires that microcars not exceed 3 meters in length and the weight, including fuel, must be 425 kg (in the case of light quadricycles) or 450 kg (for heavy quadricycles). This naturally affects the vehicle's safety levels, which cannot be the same as those of a car. However, it is true that the microcars still have the stability of the four wheels, many of them are subjected to crash tests and can be equipped with a whole series of devices that increase their reliability: among these anti-intrusion side bars, seat belts. , fog lights and headlights.
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Microcar: where you can take it
The 50 minicars have a power of up to 6 kW and cannot exceed 45 speeds per hour, the 125 go up to 15 kW and 80 kilometers per hour. They can travel on all urban and extra-urban roads where the prohibition for mopeds is not in force (therefore, in the case of minicar 50, they cannot travel on motorways or ring roads).
Little? Yes please!
Thanks to their small size, microcars are easy to park, are not subject to traffic limits and, if not expressly forbidden, they enter the ZTL, all of them, and not just the electric ones.
Electric better but diesel in any case par in consumption
Speaking of traction, the most modern microcars are powered by Euro 4 common rail diesel engines, a category corresponding to Euro 6 in the automotive world. They guarantee very low fuel consumption, in the order of 3/4 liters per 100 km. But if you want to save even more, there are various electric microcars on the market, which can be recharged at the socket in the box or at the public columns. Not very often, given that they boast zero-emission ranges of a hundred kilometers or more. These are very high values, comparable to those of a city car, and this is precisely due to the fact that microcars have a very low top speed, the number one enemy of range.
The best-selling microcars
If you are interested in a thermal microcar we advise you to take a tour of the sites of Ligier, Casalini and Chatenet. But once again we reiterate that in the case of microcars the best choice is that of electric traction, precisely because, since it is a use that in most cases is exclusively urban, the problems related to autonomy are eliminated.
Among the electric microcars we point out the e-Aixam (from 16,000 euros), the various versions of the Tazzari Zero (prices from 13,800 euros), the Estrima Birò (from 6,000 euros), the Renault Twizy (from 12,000 euros) and the last arrived from the car world, the Citroen Ami (5,500 euros). Dizzying prices? Not exactly if we consider that by purchasing an electric microcar it is possible to take advantage of the Ecobonus. For quadricycles it corresponds to 30% of the purchase price up to a maximum of 3,000 euros in the event that you do not have a vehicle to be scrapped, and 40% up to a maximum of 4,000 in the event that a used vehicle is scrapped. from Euro 0 to Euro 3
Always drive in compliance with the rules of the road
Of course, microcar drivers are also subject to the rules of the Highway Code and if they violate one of these rules they may incur fines. But be careful, if a minor is driving the microcar, the parents will be jointly and severally liable. Guys… one more reason to drive with extreme caution!
