Rinspeed to Unveil the UC? Concept Electric City Car in Geneva

In brief: At the Geneva Motor Show next March, Rinspeed will finally unveil their UC? concept commuter, an electric city car that can travel by rail.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: UC?
Manufacturer: Rinspeed

The word

The Swiss design house will be showcasing their design, which conceptual drawings make look like a mashup between a Smart ForTwo and a Toyota iQ.

The uniqueness of the concept isn't in its appearance, however, but in the functionality.

The little UC? is a city car electric with a range of about 75 miles per charge (120km) and a speed of about 45mph (110km/h). It is small enough, like the ForTwo, to park nose-in to the curb in parallel spots. What's striking about that is the plan that Rinspeed proposes, using that capability.

Rinspeed proposes that special train cars be added to rail stations around Europe so the little UC? can pull into them to ride the rails for longer trips.

Commuters or travelers could drive their UC? right onto the platform and into the train car, park inside, and ride there until reaching their destination, at which point they drive right out of the rail car and into the street again. Since most European commuter trains are electric, the vehicles could even be charged en route.

And so ...

Very unique and an interesting idea that uses the already-existing infrastructure of the EU. Rinspeed plans to offer the concept for production to manufacturers interested in building it.

Photo credits: Rinspeed