Liux’s Big microcar bets on sustainability to take on Chinese rivals
Liux’s Big microcar bets on sustainability to take on Chinese rivals
Liux 押注可持续性，以“Big”微型车挑战中国竞争对手
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 iconic ultracompact car brand, has moved manufacturing to China. 欧洲城市的汽车正变得越来越小。随着欧洲对微型车需求的增长，那些可爱的意大利“酸奶罐”式小车已在很大程度上被中国的小型电动汽车所取代。即便是标志性的超紧凑型汽车品牌 Smart，也已将生产线转移到了中国。
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. 西班牙初创公司 Liux 认为，凭借一款围绕可持续性打造的小型电动汽车，它可以在拥挤的市场中占据一席之地。继瑞士 Microlino 之后，Liux 正试图通过其即将推出的微型车 Liux Big 在市场上开辟出一片天地。“Big”（大）这个名字其实是个玩笑。它小到可以垂直于路缘石停车；但这个名字也反映了这支团队超乎寻常的雄心，他们很少走寻常路。
“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. “‘欧洲制造的汽车’这个概念其实并不存在，”Liux 联合创始人 Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros 对 TechCrunch 表示。作为一家因“西班牙制造”而频频登上头条的初创公司 CEO，这番言论令人惊讶，但也充分揭示了该公司的优先事项。Liux 确实开设了西班牙 30 多年来第一家新汽车工厂。但在其优雅的展厅里，Espinosa 和他的联合创始人 David Sancho 表示，他们已经得出结论：完全自主的供应链是无法实现的。因此，Liux 正试图在面对这一现实的同时，将可持续性作为其核心准则。
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. Liux 的电池并非在欧洲制造，但可以在家中充电，包括使用太阳能电池板产生的电力。这款车还旨在易于维护，以避免现代汽车较快的淘汰周期。最值得注意的是，其纤维车身由一种新型亚麻基生物复合材料制成，这种材料在设计上便于日后提取和回收。
“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.” “对于 David 和我来说，有一点非常明确：回收不仅仅是一个实验室概念。在实验室里，你几乎可以回收任何东西。一件东西是否可回收，取决于它是如何制造的，”Espinosa 说。“当你制造某样东西时，你必须努力保持材料和组件的完整性，以便它们能够获得第二次生命。”
“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. “真正的循环”是 Espinosa 的出发点；他曾共同创立了西班牙共益企业（B Corp）Auara，销售使用可回收且可循环利用瓶子包装的天然矿泉水。但在一家大型企业收购了这个成功的品牌后，他与 Sancho 开启了新的篇章。
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. 在汽车领域，Sancho 负责掌舵，并将低排放作为核心目标。他的专长是设计能够与燃油车相媲美的电动汽车。在加入 Liux 之前，他最令人印象深刻的成就是 Bóreas，这是一款在 2017 年勒芒 24 小时耐力赛上亮相的混合动力超级跑车。但在与前合伙人分道扬镳后，他与 Espinosa 联手创立了 Liux。
Liux’s first prototype, the Animal, combined their expertise: The fully electric five-seater was made almost entirely from recycled or plant-based materials. And yet, the two co-founders decided to pivot soon after unveiling the SUV to the world in 2022. It was then that they determined that their odds of completing homologation would be much higher with a smaller car. Liux 的第一个原型车 Animal 结合了他们的专业知识：这款全电动五座车几乎完全由回收材料或植物基材料制成。然而，在 2022 年向世界展示这款 SUV 后不久，两位联合创始人决定转型。当时他们认定，如果制造一款更小的汽车，完成车辆认证（homologation）的几率会高得多。
Fast forward to 2026, and Liux has secured Europe-wide homologation for the Liux Big, which it expects to start selling in the first half of next year. In the meantime, the company has grown to 65 employees and is getting ready to ramp up production across three facilities in Spain. These include the plant that TechCrunch visited in Azuqueca de Henares, about a one-hour drive from central Madrid. 时间来到 2026 年，Liux 已为 Liux Big 获得了全欧洲范围的车辆认证，预计将于明年上半年开始销售。与此同时，该公司已发展到 65 名员工，并准备在西班牙的三个工厂扩大生产。其中包括 TechCrunch 参观的位于阿苏克卡-德埃纳雷斯（Azuqueca de Henares）的工厂，距离马德里市中心约一小时车程。
Liux’s Azuqueca factory is small because it follows Toyota’s “lean management” principles and performs only the last steps of the process, said its head of production Beatriz Belda González, a Spanish-born engineer who previously worked for BMW in Munich. But don’t let its size fool you: Liux says its production capacity could reach 20,000 cars a year by 2030. Liux 的阿苏克卡工厂规模很小，因为它遵循丰田的“精益管理”原则，仅执行生产流程的最后步骤。生产主管 Beatriz Belda González 是一位出生于西班牙的工程师，此前曾在慕尼黑为宝马工作。但不要被它的规模所迷惑：Liux 表示，到 2030 年，其年产能有望达到 20,000 辆。
It is still too early to gauge demand, but more than 7,500 people have joined the waiting list for a Liux Big. Joining doesn’t require a fee, but the list has helped the startup learn more about its prospective buyers. The most represented profile is a 55- to 60-year-old city dweller, and Liux is now assuming that the Liux Big will often be a household’s second car. 现在评估需求还为时过早，但已有超过 7,500 人加入了 Liux Big 的等待名单。加入名单无需付费，但这有助于这家初创公司更多地了解其潜在买家。最典型的用户画像是 55 至 60 岁的城市居民，Liux 目前认为 Liux Big 往往会成为家庭的第二辆车。
This may dampen hopes that microcars could challenge traditional car ownership, but Liux has to pick its battles, Espinosa said. Rather than trying to guess where the market is going, or how fast, the startup is keeping the door open to partnerships with companies that manage B2B fleets and others that could help make its cars autonomous. Espinosa 表示，这可能会削弱微型车挑战传统汽车拥有模式的希望，但 Liux 必须有所取舍。与其试图猜测市场走向或发展速度，这家初创公司正敞开大门，寻求与管理 B2B 车队的合作伙伴以及其他可能帮助其实现汽车自动驾驶的公司合作。
For Espinosa, the Liux Big could already make a difference by offering a more sustainable option that is also affordable. The startup hasn’t confirmed its final price tag, but said it will be below €18,000 — about $21,000 — before potential EV subsidies. This puts it at the higher end of the price range for microcars, but Liux hopes it will punch above its weight — literally. 对于 Espinosa 来说，Liux Big 通过提供一种更可持续且负担得起的选择，已经能够产生影响。该公司尚未确认最终定价，但表示在扣除潜在的电动汽车补贴前，价格将低于 18,000 欧元（约合 21,000 美元）。这使其处于微型车价格区间的较高水平，但 Liux 希望它能实现“以小博大”——字面意义上的。
According to Liux’s head of R&D, Celso Fernández Llorens, weight and size limitations are a huge constraint in this category. In his view, most microcars are fairly similar, despite the fact that European authorities differentiate ultralight L6e four-wheelers from slightly heavier L7e ones. Liux, however worked around these constraints to make the most of its L7e homologation. 据 Liux 研发主管 Celso Fernández Llorens 称，重量和尺寸限制是该类别中的巨大制约因素。在他看来，尽管欧洲当局将超轻型 L6e 四轮车与稍重的 L7e 四轮车区分开来，但大多数微型车其实非常相似。然而，Liux 绕过了这些限制，充分利用了其 L7e 认证的优势。
Thanks to a litany of decisions large and small, the startup managed to fit a 260-liter trunk into the car. But most of its efforts were geared toward making sure users feel like they are driving a car, rather than a two-wheeler. That’s also closely tied to safety, Sancho said: you don’t want a car that’s only lightweight because its frame can’t withstand a crash, or that will topple on the first turn. With this in mind, and despite the fact that its category doesn’t even require crash tests, Liux has been testing and showcasing the Liux Big’s ability to slalom, brake, and perform other… 通过一系列大大小小的决策，这家初创公司成功地在车内安装了一个 260 升的后备箱。但他们的大部分努力都旨在确保用户感觉自己是在驾驶一辆汽车，而不是两轮车。Sancho 表示，这也与安全性密切相关：你不会想要一辆仅仅因为车架无法承受碰撞而显得轻便，或者在第一个转弯处就会翻倒的汽车。考虑到这一点，尽管其所属类别甚至不需要进行碰撞测试，Liux 仍一直在测试并展示 Liux Big 在绕桩、制动以及执行其他操作方面的能力……