With production now underway at the Borgaretto plant near Turin, the Mole Urbana project — patiently brought to life by Umberto Palermo over the past years — completes its first chapter. The electric quadricycles, presented in their definitive form, stand out for their originality and charm. They persuade with a thoughtful balance of craftsmanship and industrial vision, expressed through a modular construction that is simple, rational, and attentive to material choice and resource efficiency.
Two wheelbase options and multiple configurations, including versions designed for commercial use, turn these retro-inspired vehicles into a lively and appealing proposal. Their frame and bodywork follow a clear, almost schematic approach, yet the final “attire” shows remarkable care: wood, metal and textiles shape the interior atmosphere, accompanied by distinctive storage bags integrated into the front section. In the Sport GT version, the cabin cell adopts a more rounded silhouette and introduces subtle racing cues — more atmospheric than performance-driven, but striking nonetheless.
But Palermo’s vision extends well beyond this initial range, which enters the market in these very months. Built through a virtuous network of companies and institutions spanning Piedmont and the Marche region, Mole Urbana is already looking toward the next evolutions of Europe’s sustainable-mobility landscape. At the center is the EU initiative named as E-Car prroject (and informally knowed as “M0”), to be announced in December and already an influence behind the recent Dacia Hipster concept. The program is expected to generate a new class of urban vehicles positioned between quadricycles and city cars: essential, built like real automobiles yet freed from certain technological constraints — particularly in active-safety equipment — that today weigh heavily even on the costs of the smallest cars.
This is the horizon behind Malya, also unveiled on 7 December as a “three-dimensional draft” more than a fully fledged prototype, but clear enough to outline the evolution of the Mole Urbana construction philosophy toward a new, accessible dimension of personal mobility. Its forms and stylistic cues borrow from the world of classic off-roaders, as do the large wheels and raised stance, conceived to express solidity and robustness within a compact footprint of just 3.75 metres in length and 1.45 in height.
