According to multiple sources who spoke to TechCrunch, the creative farm, founded by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, played a role in the development of Libian’s first electric bike.
For about 18 months, a small number of Love From staff worked with Libian’s design team and engineers within the Skunk Works program, led by former specialist Chief Product and Technology Officer Chrisyu. According to sources, Lovefrom’s work on the micromobility project was completed in fall 2024.
Lovefrom and Rivian declined to comment.
Libian’s Skunkworks program ultimately grew to a team of around 70 people from Apple, Google, Specialized, Tesla and Rei Co-op, spinning out of Eclipse Ventures earlier this year with a $105 million fund.
Micromobility startups have also been called, but have yet to showcase their first vehicle design. In an interview with TechCrunch, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe (everyone is on the board) and Yu were Cage about what the new company’s first vehicle would look like.
“There’s a seating, two wheels, a screen, a few computers and a battery,” Scaringe said in March. He also states that it is “like a bike.” This is an explanation confirmed by the source.
But both Scaringe and Yu also spoke about their bigger vision. The new company is expected to reveal its first design at an event later this year. The spokesman also declined to comment on his cycling or connections with Love-from.
Once the electric “bike” is revealed, Ive’s fingerprints could be on top of it.
Ive is the design force behind the iPhone and countless other Apple products, and is most recently best known for his work with Sam Altman and Openai. However, his collaboration with Libian is not his first foray into the transportation industry.
Ferrari’s parent company announced in 2021 that the IVE company will help Italian supercar manufacturers develop next-generation vehicles. Ive was also involved in Apple’s secret car project. He reportedly was one of the main advocates for focusing Apple’s long-term autonomous automotive projects on autonomy, but others in the company sought more traditional electric vehicles. Apple abandoned the project early last year.
Sources told TechCrunch that Ive’s Lovefrom had previously acted as a consultant for Libian, including the company’s redesigned infotainment systems and retail, according to two former employees with knowledge of the relationship. But being involved in that relationship was also a more structured and dedicated effort, said another source familiar with the relationship.
The Skunkworks program began shaping in early 2022 after receiving an order to investigate whether Rivian’s EV technology could be condensed into something smaller and more affordable than electric vans, trucks and SUVs.
Initially, the small team worked with Libyan designers to develop products that could be expanded to a wide range of vehicles. A key design challenge was how to modularize bicycle-like products while Libian became known.
By the time Lovefrom joined the project in early 2023, a source who said it had helped refine the prototype said it had completed a lot of work.
The relationship was described as a “pretty tight” collaboration between the Skunk Works team, Love From staff and the industrial designer based at Irvine’s headquarters in Libian. This group looked into everything, including the user interface and UX for bikes.
Lovefrom’s industrial design team has many experience in thoughtful and clever packaging, but was particularly involved, according to one source who said it brought an interdisciplinary and international perspective to the project.