Is a 3D Printed Car the Future?

Some would argue that future is already here...

Indeed, some mainstream car components are already created using 3D technology.

And with all of the extraordinary revelations to come out of the creation of the 3D printer (like working plastic weapons that make airport metal-detectors all but useless), it was only a question of time before people started to think big. 

3D Printing, also known as ‘Additive Manufacturing’ is the process of creating a solid, three-dimensional object from a digitally designed model. It works by putting down layer upon layer of slightly differing shapes to eventually build up an object, most usually with plastics. Think of the contour lines on a hill, each of those contours effectively a thin slice of that hill. When stacked in the right order, they exactly recreate the shape of that hill.

3D was first evolved in the Eighties, but the technology, as is often the case with these things, was prohibitively expensive. However, as the technology improved and the prices came down, the demand for printers increased dramatically, as the potential uses for them were applied in every aspect of manufacturing, from biotech, to jewellery, to aerospace, to medical and beyond.

It’s already old hat that ordinary punters in Japan have started reproducing car components like bumpers and skirting using a 3D printer in their garage and a German company called EDAG have taken this a step further, by creating a complete car chassis called the ‘Genesis’, which they unveiled to hushed oooh’s and aah’s at the Geneva Motor Show. What was radical about their approach though, was in the decision to create a single, large component, rather than a series of small jigsaw pieces that joined together.

3D printed car chassis

Unlikely Americans Tyler and Cody Kor have taken the technology in a slightly different direction and created a whole new car called an Urbee 2, of which a great deal was printed in lightweight plastic, with which they plan to traverse America: San Francisco to New York, with their dog.

Urbee 2 is a small, very lightweight design, capable of an astonishing 290mpg and a top speed of 70mph. Powered by a one-cylinder engine that charges a series of on board batteries, its super sleek aerodynamics are the key to its killer stats.

Urbee- first 3D printed car body

What’s great about all this is what it will inspire others to do. This after all, was a Kickstarter project, where creative endeavours are put onto the Kickstarter site to achieve their budgets by donations from strangers. It’s part of human nature to top remarkable achievements, both good and bad, but when put to positive use, the sky is, well… no limit whatsoever.

3D printed car challenge

And who better than Local Motors, the online community of consumer designers to come up with another chapter in this extraordinary evolution? At the International Manufacturing Show in Chicago this September, Local are planning to make a fully functional electric car right there and then on their stall, at the event.

A more difficult point to argue is why they wouldn’t be.