Flying a little under the radar at the Auto Expo 2018 was this cute little EV: the Uniti One. Built by a small team in Sweden, the Uniti One is an all-electric city car which the company plans to bring to India in 2020.
The One features a simple, aero-friendly design with smooth surfacing and fully covered wheels. To give you an idea of size, the One is about as big as a Mahindra e2o.
Employing a 22kW lithium-ion battery, the Uniti One has a claimed range of 200 kilometres on a single charge. While there are no performance figures from Uniti, there are a few notable stats: using Uniti's fast charger, the One can be charged from 0 to 90 percent in just 20 minutes, and a full charge will take 40 minutes. Using a standard wall charger will take about 3 hours to juice the One up fully.
Rather interestingly, the One has no steering wheel. It has two joysticks instead to accelerate/decelerate and steer, and Uniti claims that initial users have found it more intuitive to drive than a standard car with a steering wheel. Yes, Uniti does intend to launch the joystick-equipped car in India, and has even worked out the nitty-gritties to make sure it is certified as road legal. But just in case the idea of driving with joysticks terrifies you, Uniti will sell you a One with a proper steering wheel. And if the idea of driving itself terrifies you, the One will also have Level 4 autonomous capabilities, but we don't know if those will be offered in India.
The only equipment as such on the inside is a 7-inch touchscreen system sitting between the joysticks. It'll handle everything, from infotainment duties to social media updates. There's also a head-up display, which is cast on the large, seemingly endless windscreen. The car showcased at the Expo is the three-door, two-seat version that'll go on sale in Europe, but India will get the five-door car, replete with suicide doors and a rear bench.
Interestingly, Uniti already has a price for the One: it will go on sale in 2020 at a price of Rs 7.14 lakh (ex-showroom), and it could go further down once the FAME subsidy is accounted for. Yes, the One will be eligible for a subsidy, as Uniti has tied up with Bird Automotive to assemble the car locally. Pre-orders are open now and you can book one for as little as Rs 1,000. If you do that, however, brace yourself for a long wait.
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Suraj Viswanathan
Hormazd Sorabjee
