Mia Mini Bus

Sometimes a clever inventor or a team of engineers changes the way we think about an appliance or a concept we’ve lived with for years — producing a revolutionary new design that makes us wonder how we ever lived without it.

But sometimes a supposed revolutionary new design is little more than changing something for changes’ sake, producing a product that never quite catches on. So when electric automaker Mia invited us to test drive its tiny electric microbus ahead of the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show — complete with a centrally-mounted driving position — we had to see if it was revolutionary or just plain weird.

Unique design

Placing the driver in a centrally-mounted position directly between the front wheelbase, the Mia and Mia L replace conventional outward opening doors with two sliding doors which give access to both the front seat and the two — or three in the case of the Mia L — rear seats.

Getting into the Mia, we’re reminded of the seating arrangement of various delivery trucks and small buses we’ve driven over the years, complete with what seems likes a huge windshield.  Sadly, the central driving position minimizes rearward visibility, with the interior rear-view mirror providing us with little more than a view of the rear passengers.

For the rear passengers too, there’s an air of bus about the seating arrangement, with two of the rear seats gaining a fairly unobstructed view of the road beyond the driver, complete with ample legroom.

Built for the city

Although Mia tells us the Mia, Mia L and Mia van are all capable of traveling in excess of 60 miles-per-hour, we’re not sure we’d want to try it. Even in the confines of the test track — complete with a 30 miles-per-hour maximum speed — the Mia L felt decidedly sluggish.

But Mia isn’t trying to reinvent a freeway commuting car. Its diminutive trio are designed specifically with the city in mind.

That’s perhaps best illustrated by the impressive turning circle all three cars share. During out test-drive, we were able to execute a full 180 degree turn in a space less than 28 feet wide.