Local Motors, whose business model has focused on the development of small-run, customer driven, crowd-sourced automotive design, is quickly becoming a force in the world of additive manufacturing. In collaboration with the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Local Motors is employing both additive and subtractive manufacturing to develop vehicles designed specifically for a local environment.
In the model to be debuted in Chicago this September, Local Motors is looking to show how “sustainable green technologies can reduce life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions, lower production cost, and create new products and opportunities for high paying jobs." To reach this goal the upstart auto firm will combine its open-source vehicle development platform with the large-scale 3D printing technologies being developed at the ORNL.
Praising the innovation Local Motors is bring to the auto industry, Bonnie Gurney, Director of Communication at AMT, remarked, “Local Motors is undeniably the first disruptive entrant into the U.S. automotive industry in decades.”
To that Jay Rogers, Local Motors’ CEO, added, “To deliver the first co-created, locally relevant, 3D-printed vehicle on an international stage dedicated to celebrating cutting-edge manufacturing technology is powerful reinforcement of our commitment to driving the Third Industrial Revolution.”
Whether Local Motors’ vision for the future of automotive design makes a lasting impact on how cars are designed and built is still anyone’s guess. However, empowering individuals to collaborate and develop systems that are tailored for their needs falls right in line with the strengths of 3D printing, and more broadly “the Third Industrial Revolution.”
Images and Video Courtesy of Local Motors