This electric car design was the winner of a design contest.
VIDEO 6 min. approx. In September, 2014, fans of “Rides with Chuck” were treated to a video of Chuck riding in what was touted as a “red carpet” ride in “the world’s first 3D printed car,” which happens to be the Strati, built by Local Motors, later introduced at a January, 2015, Detroit auto show.
How Local Motors 3D printed the Strati in record time
- April, 2014: design crowdsourced (by a contest)
- June, 2014: winning design chosen
- September, 2014: Chuck takes a ride in the Strati.
According to Wikipedia, the Strati’s internal and external parts are 3D printed, excepting only “mechanical” parts. That’s why the Strati can claim to be the first 3D printed electric car.
The entire body of its predecessor, the Urbee, a hybrid electric vehicle, had been 3D printed. But it could be said that the Urbee hybridized its 3D printed status in using standard automotive parts for its internal structure.
Strati is an electric car manufactured by Local Motors in collaboration with Cincinnati Incorporated and Oak Ridge National Laboratory[2] with open-source design. It is the world’s first three-dimensional-printed electric car.[3] The manufacturing of the car was done through a 3D printing process set up by Cincinnati Incorporated over a 44-hour period[3] at the 2014 International Manufacturing Technology Show in McCormick Place, Chicago. The printing was followed by three days of milling and assembling, with the completed car first test-driven on September 13, 2014. Strati is claimed to be the world’s first 3D-printed ‘electric’ car.[4][1]
Design: In April 2014, Local Motors organized the 3D Printed Car Design Challenge crowdsourcing to assist in the production of a full-body 3D-printed car. Seven finalists were selected from more than 200 submissions. In June 2014, Local Motors announced that the challenge was won by Michele Anoé of Italy, who was awarded the $5,000 prize.
Source: See the full article here.
In January, 2015, Local Motors.com 3D printed its vehicle on the floor of an auto show where the Chevrolet Bolt, expected to come to market in 2017. was also introduced as a 3D printed vehicle. A third electric vehicle concept by Tesla was exhibited, but was not 3D printed.
Elsewhere at the auto show, an Arizona-based company called Local Motors wowed attendees by using a 3D printer to build a car right on the show floor.
Named the “Strati,” the car is manufactured out of carbon fiber-infused plastic, MLive reported. The Strati’s frame and panels can be printed in a “micro-factory,” or a space of about 40,000 square feet, before the car needs to be attached to other parts that can’t be printed – such as the electric battery, motor, tires, and suspension.
All told, it takes about 44 hours to print the car, though Local Motors is trying to increase the speed so that it will only take one day.
The Strati isn’t exactly a powerhouse – it tops out at 25 miles per hour – but the fact that it exists is impressive enough in its own right. According to the Associated Press, CEO Jay Rogers is hoping to start selling the Strati in a range from $18,000 to $30,000, though he acknowledged that the model still needs to undergo “extensive testing” before it can hit the commercial market.
Still, Local Motors is planning to sell its first set of 3D-printed cars later this year. Micro-factories, meanwhile, are planned to open in Tennessee and near Washington, DC.
Source: Article on electric cars, January, 2015, Detroit auto show.
Visit the next page to see one way metal is handled in a 3D printer.
