Light-weight, durable cars are the next frontier of 3D printing. Meet Urbee, the hybrid that, according to its inventor, will be the VW Bug of our century.
Imagine an economy car with only 50 individual light-weight but durable component parts that has the potential to reach 70 mph and make a cross-country trip from New York to California on just one 10-gallon tank of fuel.
Urbee, Manitoba-based Jim Kor's invention, may just fit this model.
The car's design includes a metal internal combustion engine, an electric motor and frame. Polymer-based, the latter, is 3D-printed over a 3-month period.
Kor is using RedEye's 3D printing facilities in Eden Prairie, MN to produce the car.
According to Kor, 3D printing provides design and budget flexibility because it reduces the number of component parts while not compromising complexity of form. Unlike sheet metal, which comes in uniform thickness, printed thermoplastics vary their thickness to provide strength where needed, while reducing the overall weight of the car's body.
FULL STORY: 3D printing's next level: economy cars (w/ video)
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