European cities have seen their cars shrink faster than a wool sweater in a hot wash, and as the appetite for microcars grows, the cute Italian 'yoghurt pots' have largely been elbowed aside by small Chinese EVs. Even Smart, the iconic ultracompact brand, has shipped its manufacturing off to China. But Spanish startup Liux thinks it can muscle into this crowded market with a tiny electric car built around sustainability.
Following the tire tracks of Switzerland's Microlino, Liux is trying to carve out its niche with the upcoming Liux Big. The 'Big' name is a joke - it's small enough to park perpendicular to the curb - but it also nods to 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,' that's a surprising take - and one that reveals a lot about the company's priorities.
Liux's batteries aren't made in Europe, but they can be recharged at home, including with solar power. The car is also designed for easy maintenance and to dodge the faster obsolescence cycles of modern cars. Perhaps most notably, its fiber body is made from a novel linen-based biocomposite, engineered 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 Espinosa's home turf; 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 that successful brand, he teamed up with David Sancho to start a new chapter.
When it comes to cars, Sancho is in the driver's seat, with low emissions on the radar. His specialty is engineering EVs 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 joined forces to found Liux.
Liux's first prototype, the Animal, combined their expertise: a fully electric five-seater made almost entirely from recycled or plant-based materials. And yet, the co-founders decided to pivot soon after unveiling the SUV to the world in 2022. They concluded that their odds of completing homologation would be much higher with a smaller car.
Fast forward to 2026, and Liux has secured Europe-wide homologation for the Liux Big, with sales expected to start in the first half of next year. The company has grown to 65 employees and is ramping up production across three facilities in Spain, including the plant TechCrunch visited in Azuqueca de Henares, about an hour's drive from central Madrid.
Liux's Azuqueca factory is small because it follows Toyota's 'lean management' principles and performs only the final steps of the process, said 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 production capacity could hit 20,000 cars a year by 2030.
It's still early to gauge demand, but more than 7,500 people have joined the waiting list for a Liux Big. Joining is free, but the list has helped the startup learn about its prospective buyers. The most common profile is a 55- to 60-year-old city dweller, and Liux now assumes the Big will often be a household's second car.
That may dampen hopes that microcars could challenge traditional car ownership, but Liux has to pick its battles, Espinosa said. Rather than guessing where the market is going, the startup is keeping the door open to partnerships with B2B fleet managers and others that could help make its cars autonomous.
For Espinosa, the Liux Big could already make a difference by offering a more sustainable option that's also affordable. The startup hasn't confirmed a final price tag but says it will be below €18,000 (about $21,000) before potential EV subsidies. That puts it at the higher end of the microcar price range, but Liux hopes it will punch above its weight - literally.
According to head of R&D Celso Fernández Llorens, weight and size limitations are huge constraints in this category. In his view, most microcars are fairly similar, despite European authorities differentiating ultralight L6e four-wheelers from slightly heavier L7e ones. Liux, however, worked around these constraints to make the most of its L7e homologation.
Thanks to a litany of decisions large and small, the startup managed to fit a 260-liter trunk into the car. But most efforts went into making sure users feel like they're driving a car, not a two-wheeler. That's also 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 that in mind, and despite the fact that its category doesn't even require crash tests, Liux has been testing and showcasing the Big's ability to slalom, brake, and perform other maneuvers. The startup demonstrated some of those capabilities to TechCrunch during a short ride and test drive in its upcoming off-road version.
For now, the main model will come in two versions: 15 kWh and 20 kWh. A cargo version is also planned, and with Sancho on the team, the temptation to build a supercar is never far away. In a LinkedIn post, the company noted it doesn't intend to be 'a one-car brand.'
First, though, Liux will use the €16 million it has secured so far (about $18.5 million, including European funding) to bring the Big's urban version to market through partnerships with car dealerships across Europe.
The showroom where we met is also a preview of Liux's future sales experience, head of brand Ana Terrado Leyva said. She pointed to textile screens, 3D models showcasing the Big's three color options - two more than the Ford T - and a linoleum floor as a nod to linen. These aesthetic choices, she said, are another way Liux hopes to stand out from its Chinese competitors.
Maybe the idea of a European car does exist.