Uniti was an electric vehicle prototype by Uniti Sweden, a Swedish automotivestartup. The company was founded in January 2016 by a team of students and engineers under CEO Lewis Horne which aimed at developing an electric microcar in Lund, Sweden. It filed for bankruptcy in April 2022.[1] No products were ever delivered to customers.[2]
The company was initially funded through a series of crowdfunding campaigns,[5] angel investors and institutional investors. The company had over 3000 investors from 40 countries. The company also conducted vehicle pre-order campaigns at Media Markt locations in Stockholm and Malmö, with VR test-drives available.[6]
Uniti One
Uniti publicly exhibited the one-piece cockpit concept, called Kepler Pod, for the first time during the 2016 CeBit event.[7] The cockpit has been coupled with a virtual reality system to showcase the head-up display technology which was planned to be featured in the car. Different exterior design concepts have been displayed during early 2017.[8][9]
German industrial conglomerate Siemens has entered into a partnership with the group in 2017 to produce their Uniti two-seater electric car. The partners were planning to design a fully automatedIndustry 4.0 facility in Malmö, Sweden, to produce as many as 50,000 cars a year beginning in 2018. They were also considering a production facility in Adelaide, Australia, for distribution into the Asian market.[11]
The company in February 2018 showcased a two-seater at the Auto Expo in Greater Noida, India. They announced a partnership with the Delhi-based Bird Group to bring a five-seater car to the Indian market by 2020.[12][13] The company published a video of the prototype in May 2018.[14]
Uniti switched course from its Siemens partnership plans, and announced in late October 2018 plans to open its European pilot production plant at a business park in Silverstone, England, with 2-seaters expected in production by late 2019 or early 2020, followed a few months later by 4- and 5-seat versions.[15][16]
In 2019, the specifications for the first production vehicle were announced, and orders were opened via the website, requiring a 50% deposit. It was a 3-seater, and planned to be produced in Norwich.[17]
Uniti Zero
In 2021, a new prototype was shown to investors, making use of the existing Chinese made Zhidou D3 with some minor cosmetic alterations. The Zhidou was manufactured by Geely and had been subsequently discontinued. Further investment was not forthcoming and the car never reached production.[18]
