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The most impactful part of the SELFe project is the ability for anyone to use it as a 'framework to express yourSELF.' To modify and recreate your own reality until you have what you were looking for. Imagine if you could play Minecraft with your daily driver ?!?! Whether you are rich or poor, and no matter which side of the equator you live on. Are you transporting medical equipment, or are you simply transporting yourself to the beach? Will you rely on this vehicle to make money, or are you just planning to ride around and spend it? We don't care! We want to provide these vehicles to everyone that wants one, regardless of the use. Though, uniquely, we do place a special focus on what that intended use is, and aim to design the product around that (not the other way around).
If there ever was a kit-car style electric vehicle project that embodied the living principles of Appalachian State University's mascot Yosef, plus the contrarian wisdom of their little-known Appropriate Technology program, and the competitive edge of their solar car race team, then this is it. Our >8 years in the e-bike industry, plus our overqualified peanut gallery, simply provide a little perspective as to how this project could actually fit into the growing e-bike industry.
Once you are finished figuring out how the mechanical and electrical systems work, and are able get it out on the road for a test ride, then you are free to make additions, substitutions, and customizations to your liking. Until you reach the the pinnacle of perfection for you. This is already true with the frame, and the electronics, and as such, will be no different when it comes to body panels!
Instead of locking you into a proprietary body design, and having to sit there, watching it change (or not) from year to year ...
We want to give you the keys. Seriously. (Hmm, ok and we also want to be able to ship body panels economically, and for them to be swappable in the event of fender benders or a style upgrade!)
We don't want to mess around designing what we 'think' you want - we want to build exactly what you want. So we're asking you to design the bodies, then vote on the best one. Instead of doing it all ourselves.
Lazy? Cheap? Yup, right and right.
No, seriously, we are simply doing this so the result will be even better. We're doing this to attract the truly electro-curious, inviting them to submit their ideas of what the exterior of the SELFeMobil should look like. Then we will validate the entries, and collectively vote on which crowd-sourced body system to produce first (which one is the best design, the most practical & liked by the most people). We want our first complete body set to look amazing, to feel great to use and install, and for them to be created as economically as possible. But most of all, we want you guys to really love the way it looks. Not just like it enough to justify purchase.
At the start of full-unit production, in 2026, we will only offer the complete SELFeMobil in a minimal 'Safari' trim. You may use this example design as a challenge to improve upon, as well as a dimensional reference when working to design your own body panels. Or you can choose to buy a SELFe without bodies at all (you could go without them, make/use your own, or wait for future body designs to become available). We will release this design as a STEP file at the end of 2024 (once design work is complete) so that anyone who is interested can reference the dimensions of the open source Grid Beam frame. All submissions to the inaugural SolMobil Design Challenge need to be presented as either a STEP file, or .f3d (Fusion360 working file) so that we are able to quickly open and look at your submission. We are already accepting submissions to this challenge, and will continue to do so until October 2025, when we will begin the voting process. If you are interested in participating, then please send us an e-mail for details.
In the meantime, our new 'SELFe Safari' will become the first and only complete SELFeMobil available for purchase by regular customers (people who aren't building it themselves).
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