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FROM CONCEPT TO PROTOTYPE
The dream began in a garage.
2025: Tech Demo at ARPA-E
Groundbreaking sub-scale technology demo with our team at the ARPA-E Summit in Washington, DC.
2020: Company Moves to Portland
2024: Wefunder Campaign
Start of crowd fundraising for next driving prototype
2014: Willy Tests the AEV's Stability on Ice.
Back in development! Team additions: David Bailey, Michael Bailey, Stefan Shaper and Volker Kaese
2014: First Test Drive of EP-4
2014: First Official Team Photo
Auto-balancing Electric Vehicle (AEV) for its first drive test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
2014: Investors
Yves Béhar, Damon Way, Steve Rocco, Kelly Slater, Mark Pincus, Scott Belsky, and Jung-Ju Kim invest in Lit Motors.
2012: EP-3 is Ready for Tech Crunch Disrupt
EP3 with doors and prototype suspension installed.
2012: Gyro #3 Fully Installed in EP-3
2011: The First Product Line-up of Litmotors
Wild Factory creates a 1:1 ‘looks-like’ model for the C-1.
Ready for a CNN shoot: say Cheese!
First closed-loop controlled gyros at 700 ft-lbs of torque.
2010-2011: Moving Towards Prototype ‘EP-2’
2010: the First Prototype “EP 1”
6'2" engineer tests the human factors on the first C-1 design study
After moving to San Francisco with $40,000 and a team, the development kicked off. EP-1 is fully functional and ready for fundraising.
2006: The Second Car
2009: The First Gyro-Stabilizer
The first gyro was made in 2009 on a $200 budget using Arduino and RC components.
2003-2005: The First Car & Drive Test
2008: The C-1's First Appearance
Dan's first sketch of the C-1 brought together a team of designers from Rhode Island School of Design and engineers from Olin College of Engineering and MIT.
2007 : Second Car
Then Dan built a second one. During this process, Dan came to realize the inefficiency of such large vehicles and dreamed of a simpler and more exciting way of getting around.
2003-2005 : First Car
Our founder, Danny Kim, self-assemble the perfect SUV by doubling the efficiency of a Land Rover Defender 90 - customizing 60% of the parts over a year and a half.
To conduct a longevity test, Dan drove 8000+ miles across the country twice to work the bugs out of the custom drivetrain.