Uniti, the Swedish startup that is planning to build an all new electric car, claims pre-orders for the car have now reached $60 million. To all those auto industry executives out there who whine about people not wanting to buy EVs, Uniti is the wakeup call you have been dreading. People absolutely do want to buy electric cars, and if you don’t provide them with the vehicles they want, someone else will.
$60 million may not seem like a lot today, when Tesla has a bank of 400,000+ reservations for the Model 3, but for a car designed by a group of students at Lund University in Sweden, it is a stunning accomplishment. “This is an important milestone for our new company,” says Robin Eriksson, CMO of Uniti. “We conducted a small market test to validate the demand of our vehicle and the response has been very strong. We are now working intensively with our development and production partners to finalize supply potential so we can scale accordingly.”
In an e-mail, the company says, “While bringing affordable EVs to market profitably at scale remains a challenge in the automotive industry, Uniti is positioning its lightweight vehicle as a solution to this challenge. The Uniti One is designed with strict parameters for energy efficiency, allowing it to offer a targeted 150-300 km single charge range without requiring larger, more cost prohibitive batteries. Beyond range, the Uniti One boasts sporty handling and a user experience more akin to modern smartphones than cars. Executives at Uniti consider their reported pre-order volume as confirmation for this positioning strategy.”
One of the company’s major partners is Siemens, the giant German electronics and manufacturing company, which is helping move the Uniti project forward. The first cars are expected to be delivered to customers in northern Europe starting in 2019. “We have a long way to go towards our production model, certification, and the delivery of our first cars, but the commitment the market has already shown for our product and our brand goes a long way to accelerate this process” says Lewis Horne, CEO of Uniti.
The svelte and sexy Uniti will have a 15 kW electric motor and a top speed of 80 miles per hour. Manufactured from sustainable composites, it will weigh in at less than 900 pounds. The initial price is expected to be around $23,000. Here’s a brief clip of the Uniti in action.
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