In the past, 3D technology has been used while working on Blueprints of an upcoming line from the production plants. Best example for an Automobile technology moving a step ahead in terms of development is the usage of 3D Printing to breathe life into a practically driven car. The 3D Printed car from Local Motors, is indeed the first ever car made with the help of 3D Printing technology. Speaking more on the car, Rogers, the co-founder and CEO, Local Motors said, “There are 25,000 parts in a normal production car. But, Local's first production 3D-printed car, a sporty two-seater named Strati, will use, by my count, about 64.” The company built the vehicle around Strati's design that was sourced though a competition.
Strati, the 3D Printed car from Local Motors was printed in two days at International Manufacturing Technology Show and the body was built layer wise using a fast-drying carbon fiber-infused plastic. Moreover, the car has fewer 70 parts, which makes it one-of-its-kind in the automotive industry. Speaking more on the vehicle, Alex Chausovsky, an analyst for at the industry forecasting firm IHS, said, “The most significant impact of the Strati is that it challenges the status quo of automotive manufacturing. It showed that it’s no longer necessary to produce vehicles from tens of thousands of parts using sophisticated and costly assembly lines."
The prototype of Strati was built using four interlocking sections as there was no physical 3D printer that was large enough to print out a large car. But now Local Motors has found a solution with from their partners namely - Cincinnati Incorporated, a machine-tool manufacturer, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a science and technology research center near Knoxville, Tennessee, to create a car-sized printer for the company. The two seater car carries a smart design and a 48-volt electric drivetrain is bolted to an aluminum subframe in back-side of the car.
