Cars Simplified: Everything Automotive Explained

Wikispeed

Wikispeed is a crowdsourced company/project/group which aims to revolutionize the automotive industry. The group has competed for the X Prize and has presented concept cars at the Detroit Auto Show. The company/group was founded by Joe Justice in Seattle, .

All the cars they intend to produce are designed to be affordable, priced at around $25,000 or less when new. Wikispeed intends to make vehicles which can get 100 MPG (highway and city) and achieve five-star safety ratings.

An unusual characteristic which helps lower the cost of the car is that the designs are open source, which allows people to download the plans and produce many of the components themselves.

Another consumer cost-saving measure is the car's ability to switch bodies, which allows the user to switch the body shell out for something else (such as a convertible or pickup truck), which eliminates the need to pay for another engine and chassis.



On July 23, 2012, Wikispeed became the first automotive manufacturer to accept BitCoins (an open-source currency not issued by any bank or government) as currency to buy their vehicles.

Wikispeed Vehicle Images

Wikispeed SGT01Wikispeed SGT01 Side ViewWikispeed PrototypeWikispeed Prototype Rear View