Local Motors, the same company that brought us the craziest off-roader, the Rally Fighter, just wrote an important entry in the automotive history log by creating the first functional 3D-printed car, which surprisingly works with the least amount of parts ever to be found on a passenger car.
Yep, the Strati, as the car has been named, uses around 40 parts, most of which have been 3D printed in around 30 hours or so at the six-day International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014 in Chicago using a rather big printer and some plastic/carbon fiber pellets. The whole printing and assembly process took only 44 hours.
Power comes from an electric motor backed up by a battery pack and during its first test drive, Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers pushed it up to a maximum speed of 4 mph (6.4 km/h). We know it’s slower than a bicycle for now, but don’t forget this is just a concept which lacks the safety of an approved production car.
Still, the company says the future Strati that will be electrically-powered will reach speeds of up to 40 mph (64.3 km/h) and offer a range between 120 - 150 miles (193 - 241 km), which should be just enough for the daily commute.
Petrolheads can be happy too, because Local Motors also plans a conventional gasoline-powered version of the Strati and depending on what you choose, prices might be set around $18,000 to $30,000 (€13,900 to €23,200).
In the meantime, we can’t think of anything else than people pirating car-blueprints over the Internet in the near future. Ferrari and Lambos... Ferrari and Lambos everywhere...
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