3D printing has definitely come a long way ever since it was introduced, and with but a single push of a button, it looks as though the motor industry is also about to experience a revolution. Entrepreneurs have taken a major step when it comes to making 3D printed electric cars a reality. What you see above happens to be known as the Strati, and according to its inventors, this is the first 3D printed electric car in the world, thanks to the efforts from the folks over at Local Motors.
Local Motors along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Cincinnati Incorporated has created the world’s first 3D-printed car – the Strati – which was assembled at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago in barely a week. On Saturday, Sept. 13, Local Motors test drove the 3D-printed Strati at the IMTS. The Strati was also assembled live in front of spectators post the 3D-printing process and it was all done in 45 hours by deploying the direct digital manufacturing (DDM) method. The fully electric car is a two-seater and its name means layer in Italian. The manufacturing process has been used for the first time to produce a car. “There are no tools. There’s no dye. There’s no pattern. Those things cost 10’s of millions of dollars. It’s being free cast, printed out of a machine. No materials wasted. It’s just what you get,”revealed Jay Rodgers, CEO Local Motors.
