Microcars and New Urban Form Factors with Horace Dediu
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Show Notes
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In this episode of the Micromobility Podcast, Horace Dediu, Co-Founder of Micromobility Industries joins Prabin Joel Jones to explore the rise of new urban vehicle form factors and why microcars may be the next major shift in city mobility.
The conversation starts with a simple question: why did cars never evolve into a true urban form factor the way trains did with trams and metros, or aviation did with short haul and long haul aircraft? Horace argues the modern car is an accident of history, shaped by rural origins, highway assumptions, and regulations that have reinforced size and weight over decades.
From there, the episode dives into what is changing now. Microcars like the Citroen Ami, Microlino, and other light quadricycle style vehicles are gaining traction in European cities, helped by urban constraints, new parking models, and the economics of shorter trips. The discussion also covers how autonomy could accelerate smaller vehicles, why taxi fleets tend to push toward fit for purpose designs, and what Apple’s real ambition in autonomy may have been: owning the in-vehicle human machine interface.
Finally, the episode zooms out to policy. Microcars often sit inside legacy categories that were never designed for electric, connected, software-defined vehicles. If cities and regulators want smaller vehicles to scale, infrastructure and classification need to evolve with them.
Topics covered:
- Why the car is not an urban vehicle, and how history shaped today’s form factor
- Microcars in Europe and the rise of quadricycles
- Why regulation and safety requirements pushed cars to grow
- Autonomy, fleet economics, and why robotaxis may drive smaller vehicles
- Apple’s potential role in autonomous microcars and the in-vehicle interface
- Why the phone may remain the dominant in-vehicle screen
- Parking and infrastructure as the real lever for adoption
- Why cities need new categories for micro mobility and microcars
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Berlin | June 2–3
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