Universal Electric Vehicles

Introduction

 For every electric vehicle company that ends up not living up to its expectations, there are two or three that end up meeting or surpassing them.  It is the nature of a new industry that is as volatile as the one for electric vehicles.  Entrepreneurs will try out different things and because of that good ideas will rise to the surface and float while bad ones or good ones that are implemented poorly will end up sinking to the bottom.  We have yet to see where Universal Electric Vehicles will end up within that context, but so far this company that is barely a decade old is starting to look exceptionally good.

 History of Universal Electric Vehicles

 Universal Electric Vehicles traces its history back to the year 1998 when it was founded primarily by Greg Lane.  Although he is the main name associated with this particular company, the truth is that there are a number of other people within the structure of the company as well.  The reason for this is that other people were interested in this company as well but for one reason or another decided that it was best to keep their names out of the final transaction.  Therefore, Greg Lane has become the face of the organization and the other people have been relatively free of media scrutiny so that they can go ahead and do the business the company needs done.

 The main goal for Universal Electric Vehicles when it was first created was to create a design that was beautiful aesthetically while at the same time allowing the vehicles to be used easily by anyone with a physical disability.  That is why you’ll see some interesting design choices in some of their automobiles and why you’ll also see how those designs make the vehicle more functional without actually having to detract from how good it looks in the big picture.

 Over the course of their history, Universal Electric Vehicles has ended up creating two different patents for mechanical items and three for overall automobile designs.  All five of these patents are still in the works at the moment, but it is expected that they will be granted when all is said and done.  At the same time however, Lane and company have decided that a rebranding is best for the company so that they can take their products and really make a splash with a sexy car and a sexy name.  As a result, Universal Electric Vehicles will eventually be known as Electrum when the dust has settled completely.

 UEV Technology

 Primarily, UEV is interested in the creation and manufacturing of vehicles that are powered completely by electricity.  However, they are also interested in alternative fuels such as biofuels and ethanol.  For that reason, they are interested in potentially pushing products that use these flexible fuel standards, although it is also the case that for the long term UEV plans to stick to the electrification side of things.

 Right now, they use a number of different batteries to power their electric vehicles.  In fact, if each company involved in electrification could be said to have a particular trademark, for UEV it would probably be their flexibility both in terms of the types of locomotion they are pursuing and also their flexibility within a particular field.  They continue to use batteries from the nickel-zinc, lithium-ion, lead-acid and nickel-metal hydride categories within their main vehicles.

 The UEV Electrum Series

 Although it is likely that UEV will eventually rebrand fully to Electrum, right now the latter name is already in use within the company.  The main line of proprietary technology products that they sell to customers is actually already called the Electrum line of products.  That could end up making things somewhat awkward in terms of press releases and proper names, but that is merely beside the point that the two cars making up the Electrum series right now are both very solid electric vehicles.

 The UEV Electrum Spyder

 Out of the two vehicles, the Spyder is probably the one that gets more media attention.  It is also probably the one that deserves more simply because of the amazing range that this automobile actually has.  When you take a closer look at it, what you will discover is that the Spyder has the ability to go 150 miles on a single charge with the use of cheap nickel-zinc batteries, but if you upgrade to what is generally considered the industry premium lithium-ion design you can actually double that range to an absolutely astonishing 300 miles on a single charge.

 As for the car itself, the Spyder comes at a premium with $70,000 being the typical price that you will pay to purchase it.  However, if you want the lithium-ion upgrade with the batteries, this car will run you a cool $100,000 minimum.  That being said, the top speed of the car is 100 mph in both cases and you can even get 0-60 acceleration in just 7 seconds.  This is mostly because of how heavy the batteries are, but at the end of the day the Spyder is a great product that looks sexy and rivals the Tesla Roadster in how sleek it is as a luxury sports car.

 The UEV Electrum COM V-3

 The COM V-3 is a car that is never going to be as high profile in the media as the Spyder and that is mostly because of how targeted the UEV marketing happens to be.  With a top speed of 80 mph, it is still a car worth taking a closer look at however.  The range can go from 70 miles to 150 miles on a single charge depending on the type of battery you choose to purchase with it.

 Conclusion

 UEV is a company with a lot of potential that has gotten off to a very good start.  If they play their cards right and get to the stage where they can mass produce vehicles, the Spyder could easily become one of the mainstays of the electric vehicles market.