Bankruptcy put an end to XBUS and Evetta

Do light, electric vehicles registered as 4-wheel motorcycles have a future? Two very promising projects that were to be put into production at the Nedcar plant in the Netherlands never reached the production stage.

It was in February of this year that ElectricBrands filed for bankruptcy protection to clean up its financial situation. But already in April it became clear that X-BUS og Evetta would never go into production. The company that had been developing lightweight, electric vehicles since 2018 went bankrupt itself.

X-BUS

There was a lot of enthusiasm then. ElectricBrands for the first time showed early examples of its minibus concept X-BUS. It was reminiscent of the original Volkswagen buses, but was no retro model. Packed with ultra-modern solutions, such as replaceable batteries, solar cells and an electric motor on each wheel, it could have an impact on future electric car models. The vehicles could be registered as 4-wheel motorcycles (L7e) and thus avoid tolls. With a stated top speed of 100 km/h and a usable payload, it could fulfill all daily transport purposes.

Evetta

Evetta was a modern, electric microcar in the same design as Isetta bubble cars with a front door. Unlike the XBUS, the Evetta was not developed by ElectricBrands from scratch. The model was acquired through the acquisition of Artega – a company that had the rights to produce cars with the same technology as microlineThis gave them an almost fully developed model. Microlino is currently produced in a factory in Italy.

XBUS S

After filing for bankruptcy protection, ElectricBrands announced that it would begin production of an all-new model at a factory in Shandong, China. The new model would be developed based on an existing model and would be sold as XBUS S.
 
It was the beginning of the end.
 
When ElectricBrands showed the pictures of its new model, it turned out that a nearly identical model was already being marketed in Germany as TYN-e TX2, and produced in the same factory. This was a bad thing for ElectricBrands and one can speculate whether this was the reason the company filed for bankruptcy. But there could also be other reasons.

After German authorities were forced to end subsidies for electric cars in December 2024, sales fell drastically. This may have affected the calculations and put an end to the start of production of the XBUS and Evetta in early 2025.

The bankruptcy of ElectroBrands and its subsidiaries not only affected many employees, but also customers who had paid deposits (10%) on cars they will never receive.

Models that can replace XBUS and Evetta

Those who want a lightweight, electric vehicle need not despair. In Germany, the TYN-e Chinese commercial vehicles registered as L7e. The Beetle microline, which was the origin of ElectroBrand Evetta, is produced in the thousands from a factory in Italy. There are currently no importers or dealers in Norway, but you can import new cars from Swedish and Danish dealers, or import a used Microlino yourself.

The first Microlino in Norway?

This Microlino was spotted in Oslo recently. The car is a used import from abroad. A fun addition to the traffic and great advertising. I hope more people do the same, but it should be added that the prices are quite high. New cars cost from 20000 euros, depending on battery size:
 
93 km: €20000
177 km: €22000
228 km: €23000
 
Converted to today's currency, a car with the largest battery pack with standard paint and interior will cost 273000 kroner. For that price, you not only get a very cool car – you don't have to pay tolls and you can drive up to 90 km/h.

See

Microlino-car.com