Uniti (automobile). Uniti was an electric vehicle prototype by Uniti Sweden, a Swedish automotive startup. 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. No products were ever delivered to customers.

Uniti started as an open innovation project at Lund University and became an independent startup in January 2016. The company focused on delivering a climate neutral lightweight electric microcar with high-end digital features.

The company was initially funded through a series of crowdfunding campaigns, 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.

Uniti One 
Uniti publicly exhibited the one-piece cockpit concept, called Kepler Pod, for the first time during the 2016 CeBit event. 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.

Initially, the two-seater vehicle was designed to comply with the regulatory vehicle category of 450 kg heavy quadricycles (L7e), such as the Renault Twizy.

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 automated Industry 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.

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. The company published a video of the prototype in May 2018.

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.

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.

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.

See also 
 List of highest-funded equity crowdfunding projects
 Electric car
 Electric car use by country
 Automotive industry in Sweden

References

External links 

 Smaller, lighter, greener: are micro EVs the future of city transport?
 Uniti Sweden: the diversity behind the electric car of the future
 Crowdfunded electric car to be manufactured in fully automated factory designed by Siemens
 Inside Uniti’s plan to build the iPhone of EVs
 How Norway's government made electric cars irresistible
 FundedByMe campaign page of Uniti
 Could this be the car of the future?
 Elbilsfabrik etableras i Skåne – vill ta in en halv miljard
 Swedish crowdfunding hit Uniti is becoming reality – 50,000 vehicles coming up

Electric city cars
Electric vehicle manufacturers of Sweden
Battery electric vehicle manufacturers
Microcars
Quadricycles
First car made by manufacturer
Car manufacturers of Sweden
Swedish brands