The low-speed vehicle has the same general shape, and a top speed of 25 miles per hour. These are places where mobility is needed and people are able to get up close and personal with a “friendly robot” like Olli, Rogers said. Campuses, on the other hand, are a sweet spot for companies like Local Motors that want to deploy now. “The public isn’t going to see New York City with autonomous vehicles running around all the time (any time soon),” Rogers said. Olli, meanwhile, is designed for campuses, low-speed environments that include hospitals, military bases and universities. But they’re often overshadowed by the likes of Argo AI, Cruise, Uber and Waymo - bigger companies that are all pursuing robotaxis designed for cities. Local Motors, which was founded in 2007, and its Olli 1.0 shuttle are familiar figures in the fledgling autonomous vehicle industry. In the two years since, Olli has shown up at events such as LA Automobility, and been featured by various media outlets, including this one. Olli 1.0 made its debut in 2016 when it launched in National Harbor, Md., at a planned mixed-use development a few miles south of Washington, D.C. But he argues that Olli 1.0 has already been a persuasive ambassador. Whether individuals will adopt Rogers’ vision of the future is another matter. Because people often ask me, ‘Hey, when will I see this vehicle? 2023? What do you think?’ My response: It’s here now, it’s just not everywhere.” “The future is here it’s just not evenly distributed,” Local Motors co-founder and CEO John B. Meet Olli 2.0, a 3D-printed connected electric autonomous shuttle that Rogers says will hasten its ubiquity. And now, its maker, Local Motors, has given Olli an upgrade in hopes of accelerating the adoption of its autonomous shuttles. ![]() The tall rectangular pod, with its wide-set headlights and expansive windows nestled between a rounded frame, gives the shuttle a friendly countenance that screams, ever so gently, “come along, take a ride.”īut Olli is different in almost every way, from how it’s produced to its origin story. From afar, Olli resembles many of the “future is now!” electric autonomous shuttles that have popped up in recent years.
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