The shift towards electric cars is bringing with it a whole new range of entrants to the market - and the Uniti One is an interesting addition. It might look like a concept vision of future urban transport, but you'll actually be seeing these on the road in 2020.

The Uniti One is designed for urban roads, compact - looking a little like a Smart - but making a shift in the interior that stands it apart from other vehicles. It has a 1 + 2 seating configuration, so a central driving position with two seats in the rear.

While that might exclude your typical family outing, it reflects a more realistic urban commute or short journey situation - a shopping trip, the school run - often which has one parent and perhaps two kids.

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Uniti

The design allows for easy access to the rear seats, so it will carry three adults in comfort, but the biggest barrier to this car might not be that it's electric, but that the seating configuration is different. There's a sort of Tuk-Tuk or rickshaw chic about it - but it's very modern.

Uniti talks about Scandinavian design and there's a clean minimalism to things on both the exterior and the interior. There's not a lot of boot space - 155 litres - but you can fold the rear seats down to make that over 700 litres for when you're moving apartments and need to shift all your stuff. 

In terms of technology, the Uniti One sits on the new Android Automotive OS platform meaning it will offer native Google applications like Waze, Google Maps and access to more. A big clean interface is presented, meaning directions and entertainment should be easy to access.

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Uniti

Interestingly the windscreen wraps over into a glass dome at the top and this is electrochromatic glass, able to change opacity to suit the environment, be that to increase the interior light or to reduce the sun's impact on the interior. 

To the important starts and because the Uniti One is so light, it's very efficient. It will come with a 12kWh battery as standard, able to charge at rates up to 50kW (which takes 9 minutes) but gives you a range of 93 miles. There's also going to be a 24kWh version, which will give you 186 miles of range. 

It's not the fastest car on the road with a 0-62 of 9.9 second and a top speed of 75mph, but that's not the point. No one is expecting you to go drag racing in this thing - it's a sensible and efficient urban mover. It is rear wheel drive.

But perhaps the best news is that this unique little car is going to cost from £15,100 in the UK. That's a lot cheaper than other electric cars. Yes, there are some considerations to make and it won't suit everyone, but for others it might be exactly the right amount of car. 

Orders for the Uniti One are now open, deliveries expected in 2020. Head to www.uniti.earth to find out more.