Birth of the first 3D printed car
Her name is Strati and she came to life after 44 hours of printing and 2 days of assembly at Chicago's International Manufacturing Technology Show, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs.
This world first was created by American company Local Motors, a small car manufacturer from the city of Chandler in Arizona, which is specialized in the design and sale of innovative vehicles based on co-creation and microfactoring.
Last May, Local Motors launched a contest to design the Strati. The international community sent in 200 ideas and that of Italian Michele Anoe was selected and brought to life barely four months after the contest was opened!
The Strati is made up of 40 elements (versus 20,000 parts for a traditional car), of which 80 to 87% are made from ABS and between 13 and 20% of which are made from carbon fibre. They were then assembled with other parts that were manufactured in the traditional way, such as tires, the suspension and the engine.
This small electric two-seater buggy can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h and has a range of 120 km. The Strati was even driven around, proving that the vehicle was fully operational.
The manufacturer is even considering printing small runs of this car by the end of the year at prices starting around € 14,000.
More information
http://www.imts.com/media/imts_releases/20140923.html