Car

OSCar Concept

Overview

The Open Source Car is an automobile designed for transporting passengers.

Team Wikispeed

Joe Justice and Team Wikispeed are awesome and we're planning a formal partnership!

Team Wikispeed Collaboration

Wikispeed STG01

Chassis

The Wikispeed car(s) is always evolving, so it's best to start with a piece that hasn't significantly changed in a while. The basic chassis is nothing more than 4" square aluminum extrusion welded into a series of boxes. However, it has a 5-star crash equivalency rating, verified by independent testing at the Progressive Automotive X-prize. It is only around $550 in parts and those parts are commodities, so they can be overnighted pretty much anywhere in the world. All you need to build the chassis is an average sized garage, a saw to cut the aluminum, and a welder to fasten it together.

BOM

• 4" x 1/8" thick square tube
  • 120" long (x4)
  • 40" long (x4)
  • 12" long (x6)
• Yeah, that's it. That's all the frame is made out of :-)

Project Steps

• Cut aluminum tube to specified lengths

Detailed Description

The OS Car will be a lightweight and aerodynamic two passenger long range car that will be fueled with ethanol biodiesel. The current plan is for the car to have a reverse trike configuration: two front wheels and one rear wheel which is the only driven wheel. The two main benefits of the reverse trike design are lower cost and weight due to one less wheel, and lower wind drag due to the rain drop shape of the body. The construction of the car will be a steel space frame covered with non-structural polymer or composite panels. The proposed powertrain is a hybrid hydraulic system which includes a single cylinder engine that runs a hydraulic pump which directly powers a hydraulic wheel motor used to drive the car and which compresses a gas in an accumulator to store energy. Gas in the accumulator will also be compressed via regenerative braking when the hydraulic motor is run in reverse to slow the car down. Cost control and quick development will be maintained by using donor vehicle parts and off-the-shelf parts. Components that cannot be easily manufactured such as brake calipers, steering knuckles, and rims will be sourced from a donor vehicle and components such as instruments, wiring, and hydraulic components will be off-the-shelf components.

As the car design matures, some components from donor vehicles and off-the-shelf components can be replaced by scratch-built open source components. If desired, forks can be spawned from the original project for variants such a four or five passenger car, or perhaps a car with a hybrid electric powertrain.

Product Ecology

Product Ecology
Car

From	Uses	Creates	Enables
Induction Furnace Industrial Robot Welder CNC Torch Table 3D Printer Multimachine Power Cube Hydraulic Motor Components Wheels Windows Frame Engine Drivetrain Suspension Controls Steering Column AC Brakes Lights	Roads Power Cube	Transportation

Status

The Open Source Car is currently in the Research Phase of product development.

See Also

• Truck
• Aerial Ropeways

The Global Village Construction Set
Habitat	CEB Press	Cement Mixer	Sawmill	Bulldozer	Backhoe
Agriculture	Tractor	Seeder	Hay Rake	Well-Drilling Rig
	Microtractor	Soil Pulverizer	Spader	Hay Cutter	Trencher
	Bakery Oven	Dairy Milker	Microcombine	Baler
Industry	Multimachine	Ironworker	Laser Cutter	Welder	Plasma Cutter
	CNC Torch Table	Metal Roller	Rod and Wire Mill	Press Forge	Universal Rotor
	3D Printer	3D Scanner	CNC Circuit Mill	Industrial Robot	Chipper Hammermill
	Drill Press	Induction Furnace
Energy	Power Cube	Gasifier Burner	Solar Concentrator	Electric Motor Generator	Hydraulic Motor
	Steam Engine	Heat Exchanger	Wind Turbine	Pelletizer	Universal Power Supply
	Nickel-Iron Battery
Materials	Aluminum Extractor	Bioplastic Extruder
Transportation	Car	Truck
Key	Design	Planning	Prototype	Almost done	Full Release