Local Motors in Partnership with Shell GameChanger Announces DRIVEN - a Design Competition Seeking Innovative Transportation Solutions to Address Mobility Challenges

PHOENIX, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Local Motors in partnership with Shell's GameChanger team are hosting DRIVEN – Design of Relevant and Innovative Vehicles for Energy Needs – a competition seeking innovative transportation solutions to address mobility challenges on Local Motors' The Forge (forge.local-motors.com), an online, open co-creation forum. Design teams are invited to submit innovative solutions to address key mobility challenges in selected geographies.

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The Challenge: To design a game-changing vehicle to address the current and future transportation needs – the winning designs should address a relevant local social issue and use locally available energy sources and construction materials – at selected locations around the world:

1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Bangalore, India
3. Basra, Iraq
4. Houston, USA
5. Sao Paolo, Brazil

The challenge began January 17, 2012, and the deadline for entries is February 7, 2012. You can join the DRIVEN competition either as a designer or as a collaborator.  As a designer, you can register at www.local-motors.com/GameChanger then create and submit a design proposal.  As a collaborator, you can register then vote and comment on design entries to help choose a winner.

To view challenge details and inspirations, visit: www.local-motors.com/GameChanger

"We have a strong commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities where we do business and for our employees who live and work there," says Mandar Apte from the Shell GameChanger program. "Three of the above five locations were chosen because we have technology centers there, and we have major projects under way at the other two sites. Through this contest, we can plant the seed for innovative ways to address the unique mobility and energy resource challenges each of these locations face."

Five winners will be selected by the Local Motors online community to win $2,000 each for the most innovative solution in each of the five identified locations around the world. One grand prize winner will then be selected from the five winning designs by the Shell panel of judges for an additional prize of $5,000.

Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers states, "The DRIVEN competition is an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate new concepts and address some of the challenges facing the future of mobility through industrial design. The Local Motors collaborative community of 14,000 co-creators will really showcase how designers and engineers can think together about energy needs from a design standpoint."

About Shell GameChanger

We believe some people cannot stop dreaming up ideas to make things better. However, dreaming is not enough to show an idea will work. For lack of money, a few connections, and perhaps a bit of guidance, many great ideas never get off the ground. This is where Shell GameChanger can help. If you have a creative mind and believe that your innovative ideas can transform the energy industry, perhaps you should be speaking to us. We invest in novel, early-stage ideas and bring them to "proof of concept" and, if successful, work with you for further development and commercial deployment. We are looking for innovative ideas to more affordably, efficiently and cleanly develop and use today's energy resources, or unlock the clean energy resources of tomorrow. Submit your ideas on www.shell.com/gamechanger.

About Local Motors

Local Motors is a new American car company setting an exciting and sustainable course to design, manufacture, and sell cars for niche markets. Local Motors co-creates new purposeful vehicles and components with its community of 14,000 designers, engineers and enthusiasts using open source principals.  Anyone can join the Local Motors community at www.local-motors.com to assist in designing and engineering of new, innovative, vehicles, and anyone can help choose which vehicles are produced and available for purchase.  Local Motors shares all vehicle data to allow easier modification, home builds or creation of new components to fit existing vehicles.  Local Motors does not sell kits. Customers get to build their co-created vehicle at the Local-Motors Micro Factory with professional assistance. The build is completed during 2, 3-day build weekends. Local Motors has been recognized for its groundbreaking approach to automotive development, appearing in articles in Popular Science, Wired and Popular Mechanics and was featured on the Discovery Channel.

Now any individual, company or organization can co-create vehicles, parts and accessories through Local Motors' co-creative challenge-based platform called "The Forge"; email [email protected] for details.

SOURCE Local Motors