Model 3

Make
Tesla
Segment
Sedan

Range and infrastructure play a major role in the electric car buying decision but an even larger barrier to entry is price. Most electric vehicles are pretty expensive. Even the so-called affordable Tesla Model 3 currently starts at around $39,000, while non-premium options like the Nissan Leaf cost nearly $30,000.

So far, the promise of a truly affordable EV has been left unfulfilled but a Swedish company called Uniti is hoping to change that with its latest model, the Uniti One. The car was designed in Sweden and is now available in the UK starting at just £15,100 ($18,927) including a government subsidy. To put that into perspective, the Uniti One is nearly $5,000 less expensive than the now-discontinued and similarly-sized Smart ForTwo Electric Drive.

The Uniti One was designed from the ground up to be a city car, meaning it is small but maximizes its space well. Uniti says the tiny cabin features a one-plus-two seating configuration with 155 liters of storage when all three seats are in use. The rear seats can also be folded to become a single-seater with 760 liters of storage with additional room on either side of the driver's seat to accommodate longer items.

Buyers can choose from two battery sizes - 12 kWh or 24 kWh - with up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) of range on the larger battery and 150 km (93 miles) on the smaller unit. If you opt for the 24 kWh pack, you will gain access to faster charging from 20% to 80% in two hours and six minutes with a domestic 7 kW charger and the optional onboard fast charger installed, or just seventeen minutes with a 50 kW fast charger.

Performance isn't overwhelming with a rear-mounted electric motor producing 67 horsepower and 62 lb-ft of torque. 0-62 mph takes a brisk 9.9 seconds but the more important run from 0-31 mph (which you will do more frequently in the city) only takes 4.1 seconds. Although the Uniti One won't be sold in the US, it would be capable of keeping up at highway speeds with a stop speed of 75 mph. The company has not announced any plans to bring the car stateside but for its incredibly low base price, we could see it being a viable option in crowded cities.