The consortium, which includes Better Place, General Electric and automotive component companies, is now in discussions with other automakers.

FORBES: Better Place To Bring Electric Taxi Service To California in 2013

We're partial to General James Mattis, who previously ran the Marine component of Central Command, served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and helped write the Army's counterinsurgency manual with General Petraeus.

WSJ: The Petraeus Hail Mary

Crowdsourced labor usually involves breaking a project into tiny component tasks and farming those tasks out to the general public by posting the requests on a website.

WSJ: Small firms, Start-ups Drive Crowdsourcing Growth

The union, which did not return calls from NPR, will also work with General Motors as it cuts 25, 000 jobs at US assembly and component part plants.

NPR: GM, UAW Make Deal on Benefits

Armed with new contracts from Ford and General Motors that kick in over the next 12 months, the company will double its car component exports.

FORBES: Made in Mexico