Oct. 27, 2014—While additive manufacturing (commonly referred to as “3-D printing”) has become a more widely used tool by auto manufacturers, the industry may be on the verge of developing the first 3-D printed car for mass production.
According to a report by the Automotive News, Local Motors, based out of Phoenix, is hoping to have its 3-D printed car, The Strati, in low-end production by next year. The car is said to cost $18,000–$30,000, with the raw printed materials used to make the car costing around $5,000.
The printers used to make the car and materials are priced at $1 million themselves.
"Instead of having one manufacturing location, like Detroit or Japan, we'll have microfactories all across the world so people come in and customize their auto-buying experience," James Earle, Local Motors' lead engineer on the project, told the Automotive News. "It allows the consumer to interact a lot more with how their car is made."
