Swedish electric car startup Uniti has announced that its debut electric vehicle, the Uniti One 3-seater, will go on sale first in Sweden, and then in the UK from mid-2020 starting from just £15,100 ($A28,110 converted) after subsidies are applied.
A smart and compact city car, the Uniti One embraces what it describes as its Scandinavian “smartphone ethos” and a focus on getting the most efficiency and affordability possible out of its minimalist footprint.
While at first it appears drivers will get what they pay for in terms of size, the benefits include up to 300km of driving range using the 24kWh batterym or at least 150km with the standard 12kWh.
Given this standard 12kWh is the same size battery in a Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid, which currently offers around 5okm, that’s a lot of oomph out of a little battery.
Charging at a rate of up to 50kW, this means a recharge from 20-80% in under 9 minutes for the smaller battery and 17 minutes for the larger.
With the drivers seat placed neatly in front of two rear seats, the Uniti One offers 155 litres of cargo capacity when all seats are being used, but put the rear seats down and you’ve got a very decent 760 litres of space.
It has two driving modes, 50kW motor output and 85Nm torque, and its 3.2 metre body and 7 metre turning circle allow for nimble manoeuvering.
All in all, the Uniti One promises to be a great little vehicle, with thoughtful touches such as self-coloured and easily removable panels to reduce and ease fixes of scratch and bumps.
Tech-wise, it comes with all the mod-cons including an Android-driven display packed with apps like Google Maps, Waze and Spotify, over-the-air (OTA) updates and bluetooth connectivity.
Uniti have also added collision avoidance using MobilEye 6 camera tech, and using Tesla-like servicing will offer routine maintenance and inspection via its online website and an army of mobile service technicians.
Drivers in northern Europe and the UK are able to order now via a 50% deposit and Uniti says those doing so by November 30, 2019, will join an exclusive “Founders Club”, members of which will get free-forever OTA updates, as well as a slew of other benefits.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.