Meet the Minimó, Seat's level-4, 5G-ready carsharing-friendly EV

As we reported yesterday, #MWC in Barcelona is about much more than just mobile phones. Meet the Seat Minimó, a two-seater concept EV. The Minimo is not just ready for 5G and level-4 autonomy, but also – and perhaps most importantly – designed explicitly for the carsharing market. 

As it has done in the past, local OEM Seat also used this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to showcase its vision on the future (click here for its world-first pilot project on 5G-connected cars and here for its deal with IBM on an urban navigation app). 

Interchangeable battery
This year, it presented the Minimó, a 2.5-m long, 1.24-m wide EV that looks like a Renault Twizy – but has improved a thing or two about the way it operates. 

• First of all, the Bosch 48-volt battery. It weighs less than 15 kg and provides a range of 100 km. Its main feature: it's interchangeable. Replace an empty battery with a full one, and you've got maximum range again in a matter of seconds.
• Compared to the Twizy, the Minimó's doors and airco provide a step up in terms of comfort.
• Embedded technology means the Minimó is ready for level-4 autonomy and the 5G network (which is what this year's #MWC is all about).

Carsharing platforms
However, as Seat SA President Luca de Meo (pictured) said at the Minimó's presentation, “We're offering the Minimó concept to the carsharing platforms operating in the market, which is very mature by now. We can offer it to VW Group's WeShare solution, and we can adopt it for Respiro, the Madrid carsharing company we acquired last year.”

Seat says it will take another two years before the Minimó will be marketed, with a projected annual production of around 100,000 units. The aim is to sell a premium version to individual customers, and a utility version to corporates. 

Seat will also showcase the Minimó at the Geneva Motor Show, where it will also reveal its first full-sized EV, designed on the same platform as the Volkswagen ID, a B-segment sedan, and to be marketed by 2020.