Open-Source EV Created By 50 Companies @ Autopia | Wired.com.

The StreetScooter is a $7000 EV with a 74 mph top speed and 80 mile range. It relies on leased batteries and uses a heat pump for heating and air conditioning, and shipping company DHL has already ordered 3,500 of them — but the most interesting thing about the vehicle is how it came to be.

What began as a partnership of 10 companies has grown to a collaboration among more than 50 auto parts suppliers, tech companies and software developers. Each one of them had a hand not only in building the StreetScooter, but in creating it.