21 August 2026 · Joe Allum

Inside Minimal's Micro-Factories

Building a new vehicle usually takes billions of dollars, teams of thousands and long, rigid production lines that can only make one thing.

Minimal’s micro-factory concept challenges this and enables us build hardware faster, more efficiently and anywhere in the world.

Three things define our factories:

Rapid. Compact and efficient factory spaces that can be commissioned in two months.

Scalable. Modular layout is easily repeatable, meaning we can scale geographically to meet demand.

Flexible and resilient. A multi-product, flexible supply chain and local assembly reduce cost for our customers.

In practice, that means when demand appears in a new city or country, we open a factory in that location to meet demand rather than shipping vehicles halfway around the world to reach it.

The same factory floor can be reconfigured overnight to build our pedal-assist platforms, Micro 4 or our autonomous delivery bots. By operating a shorter route between component and customer, we alleviate geopolitical risks.

Inside each facility, our team builds capabilities that would otherwise cost millions to buy in: AI parts inspection, facility tracking, smart connected tooling and software that runs our production line.

Everything is designed in-house, embedded directly into the line, and inherited by every micro-factory we open on day one.

The result is a method that builds hardware with the speed and flexibility of software.

Our first Micro-Factory opened in London a year ago. That is now the blueprint for our new way of building.