The First 3D-Printed Car
Local Motors has earned itself a reputation by building the Rally Fighter, an off-road racing car built using various manufacturer's parts. However, the small American automaker is planning to revolutionize the car world in a number of ways. First of all, instead of hiring full-time designers, they offer anyone a chance to design a unique vehicle within a set of rules, and offer a prize for the winning design. Their next big project is a small roadster that will supposedly offer some stiff competition to the Caterham Seven and Ariel Atom.
In the meantime, their production branch hasn't been idling: they just unveiled the Strati, the very first passenger car to come out of a 3D printer.
It took about 44 hours to produce this vehicle, and another 24 to carve and smooth the bodywork. Its batteries and electric motors come out of a Renault Twizy.
Local Motors says that the Strati (layers, in Italian) can hit 80 km/h, and has a 250 km range.
They built the car to prove the usefulness of 3D-printing in the automotive industry. They also think they will be able to sell printed cars soon, with a sticker price between $18,000 and $36,000.
Now we eagerly wait to see if these vehicles can roll from the printer to showroom floors...
