[gatagato]

It's been a really exciting year for 3D-printing, what with the technology being used in medical breakthroughs to save lives in Spain, to print multiple houses in China and to build an entire castle in a back garden in the US.

And now we have a new first to add to the list in the 3D-printing industry – the world's first electric car built from 3D-printed parts.

CHICAGO -- Sept. 23, 2014: After a grueling six-day week that included nearly round-the-clock work, Local Motors, together with Cincinnati Incorporated, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, unveiled the world’s first 3D-printed, drivable vehicle. Called the Strati, the car took a victory lap around McCormick Place early on Saturday, September 13, 2014 with Local Motors CEO John B. Rogers, Jr., at the helm, accompanied by Doug Woods, president of AMT.

“At Local Motors, we are changing the way people move”

The Strati was built in three phases during the six-day show. In phase one the car was 3D-printed on a Cincinnati Incorporated BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing Machine) over 44 hours using cutting edge technology called additive manufacturing. Phase two, known as subtractive manufacturing, included one day of milling on a machine provided by Thermwood. Once complete, the third and final phase was rapid assembly, in which a team led by Local Motors put the finishing touches on the world’s first 3D-printed car. Then, the key was turned and the vehicle set off on its maiden voyage, marking an important moment in history.

"At Local Motors, we are changing the way people move,” said John B. Rogers, Jr., CEO and co-founder of Local Motors. "Using 3D printing, we have reimagined how cars are created using modern manufacturing techniques. The results are astounding. We have reduced the amount of car parts from 25,000 to less than 50, proving that we can take a car from designed to driven in less than six months. That is the game changer in the automotive world."

A team of industry experts came together to build the Strati, including SABIC Innovative Plastics, who provided the carbon reinforced ABS Plastic used to 3D print some of the first iterations of the car. Renault donated the powertrain from the Twizy. Siemens provided the Solid Edge® software for the structural design elements and Fifteen52 built custom wheels to match the design.

Solid Edge was integral in preparing the Strati for 3D printing. The mechanical component parts for the Strati were leveraged from the Renault Twizy. As the design files were not initially integrated with the design of the 3D printed portion of the car, virtually all of the components had to be to fit onto the new "chassis.” Alex Fiechter, Head of Innovation at Local Motors, explained how Solid Edge provided the answer, “by enabling us to easily import and modify the component parts to design our own intermediate structures that would reliably mount to the ABS/Carbon material extruded by the 3D printer.”

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/strati-worl...-hours-1465706
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...ral-drive.html

The car is based on a design by Michele Anoè of Turin, Italy, who won an online competition to design how the Local Motors prototype vehicle would look out of over 200 entries in June.
He received $5,000 cash award for his submission and was invited to see his concept manufactured live in AMT’s Emerging Technology Center, Booth N-650, at the IMTS Show.
Good work, paisà

[30564U]

Ok...let me understand this. The 3D printer makes the body and then they put conventionally made metal parts on the printer made body...right? Then it's assembled like a regular old fashioned car?

So, aside from the computer manufactured body...it's just a regular car. Wow...talk about being mesmerized by technology. Haven't there been numerous cars with plastic/fiberglass/composit bodies? So what's the big deal? It's kinda been done before...granted without the "gee wiz" computer milling, but pretty much the same thing in the end. Some times I just don't get it. I remember when everyone acted like ordering groceries over the Internet and having them delivered was such a big deal...hell delivering groceries was something I did as a kid. The only difference was people called my market to place an order instead of using a computer...the delivery was the same. Big deal. Now if the damn 3D printer printed/milled all the parts and the body and put the thing together...now that would be impressive. But computer printing/milling a car body? Not so impressive unless I'm totally missing something.

[30564U]

Wow...I read the article again. So they made basically one fancy golf cart in six, twenty-four hour, days. How exactly is that going to work out? So you have the initial purchase cost of the massive 3D printer, upgrade costs, training costs, system upgrades, machine repair, and the blindingly fast 144 hours of manufacture for each car/golf cart. I'm not seeing how this is going to help or be a money maker without giant government subsities. So much for assembly line manufacturing. How are these folks going to compete with a traditional car manufacturer? I can see parts being made this way and I can see other applications for 3D printing, but this looks like a bunch of folks making taking a shit complicated.

[spudigitti]

Originally Posted by 30564U ↗

Ok...let me understand this. The 3D printer makes the body and then they put conventionally made metal parts on the printer made body...right? Then it's assembled like a regular old fashioned car?

So, aside from the computer manufactured body...it's just a regular car. Wow...talk about being mesmerized by technology. Haven't there been numerous cars with plastic/fiberglass/composit bodies? So what's the big deal? It's kinda been done before...granted without the "gee wiz" computer milling, but pretty much the same thing in the end. Some times I just don't get it. I remember when everyone acted like ordering groceries over the Internet and having them delivered was such a big deal...hell delivering groceries was something I did as a kid. The only difference was people called my market to place an order instead of using a computer...the delivery was the same. Big deal. Now if the damn 3D printer printed/milled all the parts and the body and put the thing together...now that would be impressive. But computer printing/milling a car body? Not so impressive unless I'm totally missing something.

Ha ha your right Renault a French car manufacturers have been using plastic outer skins for over 20 years the bodies push the energy through the plastics at the moment of impact keeping the cockpit damage to a minimum and absorbing shunts through the chassis and into the plastics also saves lives...