Dec. 2, 2011—New American car company Local Motors recently announced the launch of The Forge, a Web-based collaborative vehicular forum that allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), aftermarket companies, educational institutions and hobbyists to present the company with ideas for automotive designs and engineering development.
Local Motors designs, engineers and builds new vehicles and components through a process called “co-creation.” The company cultivates ideas for vehicle designs from outside amateur and professional designers, engineers and fabricators.
“The Forge is a dynamic, collaborative online forum for design and engineering enthusiasts to bring innovative concepts to fruition,” said Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors. “We have seen it done before with our Rally Fighter and our Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency vehicle, and we are excited to watch it done again in the building of vehicle concepts like our Open Electric Vehicle (EV) project.”
The Forge is open to anyone who is interested in participating. Participants of The Forge help select which vehicles Local Motors should produce. They also get the opportunity to help build their co-created vehicle at Local Motors’ micro-factory.
Local Motors said it shares all vehicle data with the industry to allow for easier modification, home builds or creation of new components to fit existing vehicles.
The Phoenix-based company, which was founded in 2007, is the first automotive company to use the “co-creation” process. Local Motors has more than 60,000 vehicle design concepts.
For more information, or to participate with The Forge, visit local-motors.com.
