3D-Printed Hybrid Car Drives Toward Mass Production

With major car manufacturers like Daimler and Ford already exploring the use of 3D printing for prototyping car parts, it seems inevitable that a road-worthy 3D-printed car is not too far on the horizon.

The future could arrive soon thanks to KOR EcoLogic, which has teamed with Stratasys's RedEye On Demand 3D printing business unit to fabricate a lightweight electric car that could take to the streets in about two years.

If you remember a few years ago, KOR EcoLogic president Jim Kor unveiled Urbee, his vision for the future of energy-efficient cars that can be manufactured digitally. Urbee, meant to be the first 3D-printed car, is a two-person, lightweight hybrid that ideally will be made of recyclable plastic and capable of reaching a speed of 70 mph on the freeway using a combination of electricity, and if Kor has his way, a biofuel like 100-percent ethanol.

Now through the effort's partnership with Stratasys RedEye on Demand, a road-worthy Urbee is that much closer to production. The collaboration already has successfully printed an Urbee prototype, Urbee 1, using Stratasys's Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process, Kor and RedEye business development manager Jeff Hansen told Design News. Now the companies are working on producing a follow-up, Urbee 2, that can eventually be mass-produced using RedEye on Demand's virtual manufacturing process. Hansen told us:

Kor developed the main body parts for Urbee in CAD files and originally just thought he would use Stratasys's RedEye on Demand service for rapid prototyping of the large exterior panels required to build a car. "Our initial goal with Urbee 1 was just to see if we could actually make [3D print] and handle these large panels and turn them into a car body," he said.

Kor described the process of 3D printing Urbee's panels to Design News in this way: