The idea of open-source isn't something you come across very often in the car industry. In most cases (make that "in every case"), if one company comes up with something it had spent a lot of time and money on, it will guard it as best it can against the competition.  That's how things work in a competitive environment. It's not how they necessarily should, and we have been given a few glimpses of a different approach lately when Tesla made available a few of its patents, but for the most part, this is a highly secretive business.

OSVehicle looks to change all that, and it has now come back with a new, improved platform to do it. Earlier this year, the startup with roots in both Italy and Silicon Valley presented an open-source EV platform it called TABBY. The idea behind it was that it would spare companies of the lengthy and costly R&D process and provide them with a ready-made platform on which to build their vehicles anyway they see fit. It sounds great, but would you really see a brand like, say, Mercedes-Benz make use of OSVechile's services?