OScar is the first attempt to design an entire automobile (now also extended to other vehicles: bus, truck and motorcycle) using open source principles. The aim of the project is mainly to produce blueprints, using essentially open source CAD. The project is still far from producing a real car, but the progress has been continuous for some years. The OScar project should not be confused with the OSCar company (now known as Riversimple) devised by British engineer Hugo Spowers
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The goal of the project is not to produce a sophisticated car, but rather a simple and functional basic one, which answer people's basic transportation needs. A long term goal is also to introduce standardization in parts manufacturing (very much in the open source way) to use economies of scale. This is a radical change from the car industry's current practices and business model, where every manufacturer has their own standards. This monopoly on brand-specific parts often constitutes an important part of the manufacturers' revenues.
Among the challenges this car will have to overcome, before reaching the manufacturing phase, are to conduct crash tests and also to abide by very strict security legislation and pollution norms in the car industry. This has led to proposals for low-carbon alternative propulsion OScars (hybrid, hydrogen vehicle, and electric versions).