Cheap pure-electric Uniti One makes debut

Fledgling Swedish car-maker, Uniti, has launched a new three-seat pure-electric city car with a range of up to 300km that it hopes will steal sales from more established rivals when the tiny car eventually goes on sale Down Under.

Called the Uniti One, the small Renault Zoe-rivalling city car boasts an exotic McLaren F1-esque central driving position but has a far more down-to-earth price tag of $35,000 (before subsidies).

On sale in both the UK and Sweden from the middle of 2020, the new One is claimed to have been designed in Sweden but engineered in Norfolk, England – it's not known whether nearby Lotus had a hand in the little city car's development.

What is known is the entry-level models will come with a 12kWh battery that provides a range of 150km.

Versions with bigger 24kWh battery packs, meanwhile, boost the distance between recharges to 300km.

With the larger battery in place, a top up using a 50kW charge from 20 per cent to 80 per cent is said to take just 17 minutes, while the 12kWh model will recharge to the same capacity in an even more rapid nine minutes.

Tipping the scales at just 600kg, the lightweight city car gets a small rear-mounted 50kW motor that launches the One to 50km/h in 4.4 seconds and 100km/h in a reasonably brisk 9.9sec. Top speed is 121km/h.

Boosting efficiency, or power, the One gets a City or Boost driving mode, with the latter sharpening the throttle response for quicker acceleration.

Inside, the centrally-positioned driver gets two touchscreens that run Google Android's latest automotive software.

Instead of a key, the owner's smart phone is used to lock and start the small EV.

Featuring a sunroof as standard, the One's roof features electrochromic tech that automatically darkens to keep the cabin cool.

The One also comes with a premium sound system and an advanced collision avoidance system developed by Intel-owned MobilEye.

The only thing lacking for the small zero-emission city car is space for luggage, with the One's tiny boot accommodating just 155 litres, although if you fold both seats down this expands to 760 litres.

In the UK an added incentive of buying the Uniti One is all owners will be treated to five years' worth of free energy.

The Swedish car-maker says that the One will produce 75 per cent less CO2 over its lifetime, compared to a conventional vehicle.

Uniti has already announced that it is working on other variants based on the same scalable architecture, in two-seat, four- and five-seat versions.

Following its cars going on sale in the UK, the car-maker says it plans to launch in Mexico, the US, Dubai, Georgia and, even Australia – although the EV start-up hasn't confirmed when we'll see the little One here.

Later on, the car-maker will launch its self-driving technology.

In Europe, Uniti claims 3000 buyers have already placed a small €149 ($A240) deposit in the build-up to its 2020-launch.