– In Sweden, there is approx. 1,2 people travelling in a car for short distances. Uniti is a smaller format car made for urban transportation. This was the opening by Albin Wilson from Team Uniti at Future Transportation Square. The car has a display with augmented information with road data and we’ve taken inspiration from planes when developing the steer-by-wire solution. In short, are looking at technology that already exists to see how we can make it work for us.

Genuine is the only way to go

Albin Wilson, Uniti

Albin Wilson, Uniti

– Team Uniti have always been very open about what we are doing and how we are working, and we want to show that to our audience. We want people to be a part of the development of Uniti, so we decided to create an equity crowdfunding, Albin says.
– We started with a very sleek presentation video, only to realise that it wasn’t us. So we scrapped that and made a new one with genuine content. And it was the right thing to do, as we had one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns of 2016 in Scandinavia.

The equity crowdfunding was one of Scandinavia’s biggest during 2016 with 570 investors from 45 countries and collecting funding of 1.200.000€. You can see the crowdfunding video here.

– We want to build trust through communication with our audience. Many of our fans today will be our future customers, Albin explains. Instead of working for years and then revealing the finished product, we have different groups to collaborate with us when we are making design decisions. Getting this input is invaluable and it also means that we are creating a product that people will want.

A virtual production line

– We are in a partnership with Siemens and we both want to learn from each other. We are planning our production line in virtual scenario, using Siemens software. This enables us to see possible problems before they are implemented and we can make changes before we build the production line. We will have a fully automated production line, Albin explains.

Here are some of the questions from the meeting

With smaller cars, there is always the safety issue, how do you work on that?

– We are working a lot with autonomous driving, trying to stop a collision before it happens. We are also using carbon fibre, which is equally strong as steel also through good design we can achieve a very safe vehicle.

Do you think that the infrastructure for electric cars will be in place as more and more electric cars are being sold?

– Infrastructure is being built throughout sweden and europe to meet these needs. However our car is also smaller than most, so the battery can be charged at home over night. We will have a range over 150 km, but we are also aiming for a second model with a 300 km range.

There is an automotive war right now and many old players are trying to reinvent themselves. How do you intend to stay open without being plundered?

– The generations before us tried to be open, but they didn’t have the tools to do it. The tools are almost in place now and we are trying to use them to our advantage. You give trust and you build trust. And if someone steals what we do, that means that we have developed something great.

How do you plan on making Uniti a car that fits in a sharing economy?

– By using technology and connectivity. Sharing economy is a reality now, so we are able to fit that into our solution from the start.

How is it possible to create a production line without a prototype?

– We are developing a prototype now and it will be ready in September. And we can start developing some of the machines that the suppliers will need. We already know most aspects of what parts we need, even if the exact measuring hasn’t been decided yet.

Quick facts about Team Uniti

The team consist of 60 people and the company has grown to this size in just two years.
The car will weigh 400 kg without battery and have a top speed of 90 km/h – 120 km/h depending on model.

IDEON Science Park logo

Keep track of future developments with the Ideon newsletter!

You can unsubscribe in one click and we will never share your email address with third parties.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

IDEON Science Park logo

KEEP TRACK OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE IDEON NEWSLETTER!

You can unsubscribe in one click and we will never share your email address with third parties.

You have Successfully Subscribed!