Rinspeed UC? Electric Car Concept at Geneva

The Rinspeed UC? (Urban Commuter) Electric Car Concept

Swiss car design studio Rinsspeed are taking a small electric car concept to the Geneva Motor Show next month – the Rinspeed UC?

Rinspeed are a Swiss car designer studio and, as you would expect on their home turf, they usually churn out a concept for the Geneva Motor Show. And this year is no different, except this concept is about Eco and Electric instead of power and performance.

Risnpeed has revealed the UC? (that’s their question mark, not ours) which stands for ‘Urban Commuter’ and is designed to provide owners with ‘Flexible Transport Options’. And we have to say, we do applaud the sentiments behind the Rinspeed UC?.

Instead of trying to convince car buyers that the electric car can solve all our needs and be a real replacement for the internal combustion engine, Rinspeed are focusing on the strengths of the electric car; zero emissions at point of use; low running costs (for now) and, in this case, size.

The UC? has been built in the mode of the Smart ForTwo and is so small it can park in what would normally be parallel parking spaces nose in. Straight away – of huge importance in congested urban areas – you get twice as many parking spaces. Range is not incredible, but at 65 miles is sufficient for a daily drive in a City.

Rinsspeed has also considered the practicalities of going further afield in the UC? and have fitted the UC? with a train loading system allowing the UC? to roll on to passenger trains in Europe for intercity travel. They’ve also addressed the known poor performance of electric cars in cold weather by fitting the UC? with a heater than can crank the system up to 60c in 30 seconds. They don’t say how much power that uses from your 65 mile range, but at least they’re acknowledging and addressing the issue.

That’s it in a nutshell. But Rinspeed has produced an enormous Rinspeed UC? press release which you can browse through if you have a spare hour or three.