Tuesday, February 07, 2006
The Open Source Car
Here's something I found on AutoBlog: - the open source car! Here is its official website. It seems like a well intentioned project, but I can't quite see how they intend to pull this off. Open source with physical objects is certainly possible - after all, I've got a Megasquirt, which is an open source automotive ECU. But building a car is very different. If it follows standard construction techniques, they'd have to make large sections of it out of stamped steel. Stamping dies can cost tens of thousands of dollars per die. How are they going to get any economics of scale with this? Building a low-volume car can easily result in a car that's comparable to a Geo Metro selling at a BMW 5-series price.
Still, I might join their forums to see if I can contribute a little, just for the fun of it. And because, well, I happen to have some experience on the production end of things.
Still, I might join their forums to see if I can contribute a little, just for the fun of it. And because, well, I happen to have some experience on the production end of things.
