This (Mostly) 3D-Printed Car is About to Take Its First Drive _ Motherboard

8/11/2019 This (Mostly) 3D-Printed Car is About to Take Its First Drive _ Motherboard

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phone is already down from 130 hours a few weeks ago. The company, which previously received

attention for its Creative Commons-licensed Rally Fighter design (http://localmotors.com

/rallyfighter/), claims its the first 3D-printed car. While that title might be up for debatevarious

bits of cars have been printed beforeits got some pretty cool features.

The whole main body of the Strati, including chassis, fenders, bonnet, dashboard, and so on, is

3D-printed out of an ABS-based filament reinforced with carbon-fibre. Obviously, the motor,

battery, suspension and suchlike are not printedwere not quite there yet. But unlike earlier

3D-printed cars, such as the Urbee unveiled back in 2010 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk

/sciencetech/article-2041106/Urbee-The-worlds-printed-car-rolling-3D-printing-presses-.html), it

doesnt have a metal chassis underneath.

Speaking from the technology show, Rogers told me that the point was to radically reduce the

number of parts in the car.

The supply chain (http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/how-counterfeit-plastic-led-to-aston-martin-

recalling-17590-cars) that we have in the world keeps us from changing cars quickly, because if

you have to order 25,000 parts, your suppliers are very difficult to organise, he said.

That, he suggested, is why manufacturers have tried to extend the life of each model while also

developing as many models on the same platforms as possible. But by printing the chassis tub in

one piece, the company can massively cut down on the complexity of the car.

(/EN_US?TRK_SOURCE=HEADER-LOGO)

(Mostly) 3D-Printed Car Is About to Take Its First Drive | Mot... http://motherboard.vice.com/read/this-mostly-3d-printed-car

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The whole building process of the car is pretty intriguing, and Rogers admitted that the main

reason theyre referring to it just as 3D printing is because people still go crazy for the term. It

actually uses a few different digital manufacturing processes, as the car is printed, cut, and

assembled by machine.

A first machinethe 3D printerextrudes the material onto a heated bed, much like a regular

desktop printer but oversized much less accurate. We dont look for the surface finish of anything

close to your standard printers, said Rogers, and explained that the bead they lay down is a

half-inch wide, which gives a very stripy finish. A milling machine driven by the same computer

program then mills the rough surface down so its smooth.



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Rogers was enthusiastic that the car will be road-safe, and said hes looking to get it approved as a

low-speed electric vehicle. The one going for the test drive on Saturday can reach 40 mph.

But the cost is perhaps the most attractive element. We think its going to be incredibly disruptive

on the cost side, said Rogers. At $4.80 a pound for the materials, the raw product costs around

$4,800 per chassis before all the extra bits. Were hopeful that the car can be priced between

$18,000 and $30,000, said Rogers. For an early disruptive car, those numbers are in Toyota

range.

Read: Finally, 3D Printers Are Making Things That Are Actually Useful (http://motherboard.vice.com/read/finally-3d-printers-are-making-things-that-are-actually-useful)

Whats most interesting about Local Motors longer-term vision is that it shows how 3D printing

could revolutionise a broader system of supply and demand. The company aims to open 50 micro

factories internationally in the next five years (they currently have three (https://localmotors.com

/microfactory/), all in the US).

Thats pretty much the dream of 3D printing: Go into a shop, order what you want, and have it

made instantly, on site, with no wasted materials. Though Id wait for the crash safety tests before

you drive it out of the lot.



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TOPICS: 3D Printing (/tag/3D+Printing), cars (/tag/cars), factories (/tag/factories), manufacturing(/tag/manufacturing), design (/tag/design), machines (/tag/machines), Local Motors(/tag/Local+Motors), Strati (/tag/Strati)

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This (Mostly) 3D-Printed Car is About to Take Its First Drive _ Motherboard