At least, that’s what I took away from the presentation featured speaker Justin Fishkin just delivered at the Innovate Celebrate 2017 event. Justin, the chief strategy officer of Local Motors, talked smart cars, 3D-printing vehicles, and just what James Corden’s opinion on all of this is. You can catch Justin Fishkin’s talk using TechCo’s Facebook live video coverage below, but those pressed for time can check out a few key points right here.
Fixing the Complexity
Justin focused on one main question in explaining the company’s approach to decentralizing the development and production of vehicles: They ask themselves how Henry Ford would have designed the automotive industry if he’d had the internet. Justin Fishkin, COO of Local Motors on smart mobility #InnovateCelebrate Posted by TechCo on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 The term “fixing the complexity” came up, a reference to the real problem with the automotive industry: The process could stand to be streamlined. Local Motors consider themselves to be a rapid integrator, and their point of pride is how much faster they can take a car from concept to physical reality.
The World’s First 3D-Printed Car
Local Motors created a car live, 3D-printing it at a conference and driving it off the show floor within 48 hours. Today, they have the process down to just 22 hours. They call the process direct digital manufacturing.
Olli and James Corden
The autonomous shuttle bus Olli, produced as an urban mobility challenge for Berlin, debuted in D.C. last year at an event TechCo covered here. It can operate while following a fixed route or while on a non-fixed route, functioning like an Uber car to pick up and drop off passengers on public roads or private. There are even a few “crazy ideas” for the future that Justin mentions: a mobile gym or private barista that brings you your coffee.
Local Motors also designs and 3D-prints personal cars, as we learned in a video starring James Corden. In addition to mistaking Olli for a real person who would be driving his bus, Corden got to offer his own design specs on a 3D-printed convertible. He had the gearshift modeled after his own hand. It was weird. In the future, Local Motors hopes, rental car company could become the car makers themselves.
Local Empowerment
One major detail that Justin found important to note: The benefits of connecting with a local community on a personal level, thanks to the personalization allowed by the 3D-printing process. Local Motors’ products have even appeared in the latest Transformers and Fast & Furious movies which, if not the height of free publicity, is certainly very cool. The future looks bright. To be specific, it looks low-speed and electric. Accessible Olli, the company’s latest model designed to help those with cognitive or physical disabilities, debuts at CES next year. Local Motors clearly isn’t planning to rest on their laurels for another century.
