EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Local Motors CEO, Jay Rogers

Local Motors made news recently when it created the world’s first 3D printed automobile at the 2014 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago.

Called the Strati (Italian for layers), the battery powered electric car was built over a two day period. Unlike a normal automobile with 5,000 to 6,000 parts, the Strati has just 49.

Benzinga spoke with Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

Related: Local Motors Making World's First 3D-Printed Car

Where Vehicles Are Born Different

“Local Motors is a technology company that makes vehicles," Rogers said. "We design, we build and we sell.”

Then he added, “Perhaps most importantly, all of our vehicles are born different.”

According to Rogers, the ‘born different’ label springs from the fact that the production of Local Motors’ vehicles involves “co-creation and micro-manufacturing.”

Vehicle Means Any Vehicle

While the current push has been to ‘productize the process’ by which the 3D car was created, Rogers was careful to say it is not about the car. It is about the process, which he noted was designed to be “very low on tooling costs.”

Saying, “We are a vehicle innovation company,” Rogers was also quick to point out that the term ‘vehicle’ is to be taken broadly. Asked if that also meant, for example, motorcycles and boats, Rogers said, “Absolutely.”

Power Train Agnostic

While the use of an electric motor to drive the Strati 3D printed automobile helped with the overall goal of reducing the number of parts, Rogers said the company was ‘power train agnostic.’

“If natural gas is your local feed stock,” Rogers said, “we can make a vehicle that runs on natural gas.”

Reconfiguration

One of the most exciting components to the Local Motors business model is the ability owners have to reconfigure their vehicle as their needs change.

This could involve, for example, recycling the center part of the car and replacing it with something larger.

Rogers said, “The ability to turn a car into a reconfigurable product is incredibly exciting.”

Related: Autodesk, Local Motors Collaborate On Spark 3D Platform

Economy of Scope

“Our business is not about patenting,” Rogers said. “It’s about speed to market. It’s very much distributed manufacturing.”

“That means Local Motors is not about gaining economy of scale,” he noted. “The thing we focus on is economy of scope.”

“We built a business where we think we can get people to pay more for a product that is different, more interesting and more advanced.”

At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco  had no position in any mentioned securities.