World's first 3D printed car

Strati: World's first 3D printed car

Making car as per your requirement is now not just a dream. Local Motors a Phoenix, Arizona based manufacturing firm reveled the world’s first 3D printed car electric car “Strati” at International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014 in Chicago. What’s more it just took them 44 hours to build this car from scratch. Conventional vehicle which has more than 20,000 components but this car has less than 50 components (40 to be precise) then the non-printable parts such as the engine, lights and glass windshield were added.

The chassis and the body of the car are printed using a giant 3D printer but the tires, seats, wheels, battery, wiring, suspension, electric motor and window shield were made using conventional methods.  The battery-powered, two-passenger car is made of layers of black plastic and reinforced with carbon fiber. Strati’s top speed is 40 miles per hour, and it can travel about 120 miles on a single charge.

Credit: WGN

Local Motors CEO John Rogers told the Wall Street Journal: ‘We are the first company to make a 3D-printed car using carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic. ‘The seats, body, chassis, dash, center console and hood will all be 3D printed.’ The company hopes to offer 3D-printed cars for between £11,000 to £18,000 ($18,000 to $30,000) each, depending on the types of optional features buyers will want.

Well few years from now you can actually download a car ;)