Liux’s Big microcar bets on sustainability to take on Chinese rivals

Cars in European cities are smaller than ever. But as Europe’s appetite for microcars has grown, the cute Italian ‘yoghurt pots’ have largely given way to small Chinese EVs. Even Smart , the the iconic ultracompact car brand, has moved manufacturing to China.

Spanish startup Liux thinks it can compete in a crowded market with a tiny electric car built around sustainability.

Following the tracks of the Microlino out of Switzerland, Liux is trying to carve out a place in the market with its upcoming microcar, the Liux Big. The “Big” name is a joke. It is small enough to park at a right angle to the curb; but the name also reflects the oversized ambitions of a team that rarely takes the expected route.

“The idea of ​​a European car does not exist,” Liux co-founder Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros told TechCrunch. Coming from the CEO of a startup whose cars are already making headlines for being “made in Spain,” it was a surprising take — and one that reveals a lot about the company’s priorities.

It is true that Liux opened Spain’s first new car plant in more than 30 years . But as we sat down in its elegant showroom, Espinosa and his co-founder David Sancho said they had concluded that a fully sovereign supply chain is unattainable. Instead, Liux is trying to navigate that reality while keeping sustainability as its north star.

Liux’s batteries are not made in Europe, but they are rechargeable at home, including with power generated from solar panels. The car is also meant to be easy to maintain and avoid the faster obsolescence cycles of modern cars. Perhaps most notably, its fiber body is made from a novel linen-based biocomposite designed so the material can later be extracted and recycled.

“One thing that’s very clear for David and me is that recycling isn’t just a lab concept. You can recycle almost anything in a lab. What makes something recyclable has to do with how it’s built,” Espinosa said. “When you build something, you have to try to preserve the integrity of the material and the components so that a second life is possible.”

“Real circularity” is where Espinosa comes from; he previously cofounded Auara , a Spanish B Corp selling natural mineral water in bottles that are both recycled and recyclable. But after a larger player acquired this successful brand, he embarked on a new chapter with Sancho as his co-driver.

When it comes to cars, Sancho is in the driver’s seat, with low emissions on the radar. His specialty is engineering electric vehicles that can rival gas-powered ones. Before Liux, his most impressive feat was the Bóreas , a hybrid supercar unveiled at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017. But after a fallout with his former partners, he and Espinosa teamed up to found Liux.