I think all we will be needing down here is an electric (or solar-powered) golf cart. And perhaps a boat.
Most electric cars look essentially the same as gas-powered cars have for decades, with a battery swapped in place of an internal combustion engine. But a Swedish electric car startup argues that in the context of modern city life, the entire idea of a car needs more of a reinvention.
Uniti, which launched a prototype of its tiny electric car today, started by rethinking size: If most people living in cities commute to work alone, over short distances, it doesn’t make sense to make an oversized, overpowered vehicle.
“The shift to electric cars is a positive one,” Lewis Horne, Uniti CEO and founder, tells Fast Company. “But it’s clear that we still make them in the same way that traditional combustion engine vehicles are made. With large heavy bodies, in which the battery is not really moving the passengers around, but is moving itself and the vehicle’s heavy frame with it.”
Though the new car comes in models with four and five seats, it also offers a model with only two seats, which will retail at prices starting around $17,000. (Smart Car also makes a small electric model, though it’s slightly more expensive) The frame, made from carbon fiber, is much lighter than a traditional metal frame. The battery is small, at 22 kilowatt-hours versus 100 kWh in some Tesla models, but can last around 186 miles, much farther than a typical round-trip commute. An additional battery, which can be plugged into a regular outlet at home or a cafe, can be added to the car on rarer occasions when it’s needed.
Shrinking the battery helps reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing an electric car. Using carbon fiber makes the car easier to manufacture, and streamlining that process also improves sustainability. While carbon fiber itself isn’t particularly sustainable, it can be recycled, and the company says bio-based carbon fiber may be an option in the future. Inside the car, the company already uses bio-based composite materials. Uniti estimates that the car will emit 75% less carbon across its lifecycle compared to other electric cars.
Swedish customers (and soon, those in other countries) will also be able to charge Uniti cars for free at home, for five years, through a partnership that uses solar electricity, so the cars will have an even smaller carbon footprint. E.On, a European energy company, will buy solar energy to offset home charging, and the average cost of charging will be rebated from electric bills.
more at Original.
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