Traditionally, manufacturing or even prototyping new vehicular models meant high barriers to entry due to the exorbitant costs of Research and Development. This meant that new vehicles were only available to big name brands like Ford or Chrysler who could afford to invest the time and money.

Open Motors is a company launching out of our Winter 2016 class that allows anyone to create customized electric vehicles using their open source platform and modular technology, Tabby Evo. By reducing R&D costs and eliminating the need for a factory, Open Motors enables smaller companies and even individuals to build a fully working prototype in less than an hour. The lifetime of the product is also extended as users can replace, adapt, and upgrade different components.

Normally, manufacturing a similar prototype cost around $100k, not including the R&D costs, but Open Motors delivers the same product at a third of the price. Based on previous projects, this ready-to-use technology saves companies about 3 years in R&D and roughly $2M.

The two co-founders of Open Motors are Italian-born Tin Hang Liu and Yuki Liu. The two previously worked at Italchina, their family company that helped Italian enterprises enter the Chinese market.

Learn more about Open Motors here or check out their video here.