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UC? is the new urban commuter car from Swiss designer Rinspeed, you see?

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss auto-making industry is almost non-existant, but the one company that makes its mark with hot cars, year after year at the Geneva Motor Show, is concept car designer Rinspeed. It is about to do so again, but this time with a “mobility concept” small electric car designed to end city traffic gridlocks.

It has the added advantage of being able to be popped on a train with a plug kit to recharge it.

The small company, based near Zurich, has a reputation for turning out some of the world’s most unusual cars, designed to drive underwater, for example. UC? stands for “you see?” and “urban commuter”, and the little car looks like a cross between Smart cars and electric cars now on the street, with a touch of the Love Bug Volkswagen made popular in the 1960s. The similarity ends there.

The UC? is a 2.5 metre two-seater, operated with a central joystick, that delivers 124 Newton metres of torque. “It reaches a top speed of 110 km/h and has an operating range of 120 kilometers. But the most important aspect of the vehicle is that there is a good chance that it will be built in series production,” the company notes in its pre-Geneva car show press release.

eXasis, with nothing to hide, was unveiled at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show

Most of Rinspeed’s concept cars are not really designed for the masses, for example its transparent eXasis, presented at the 2007 Geneva motor show. Rinspeed’s new mobility concept has a large and intriguing collection of partners, including Coop, the Swiss supermarket chain.

Links to others sites: Geneva Motor Show, 4-14 March 2010, All Cars Electric, World Car Fans