The world’s first fleet of 3-D printed cars is on its way, startup Local Motors said, but you won’t see a mass-produced 3-D car anytime soon.
The technology is nothing new to the automotive industry. Most major automakers have already been using 3-D printing in the prototyping phase for years.
Toyota, for example, has been using 3-D printing for rapid prototyping at its North American operations for nearly 20 years, Toyota spokesman Brian Watkins said.
“We use the technology primarily for prototype parts and ‘proof of concept’ applications, but not for production parts or vehicles,” he said in an email.
GM spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin said 3-D printing isn’t used much outside of prototyping because it just can’t match the speed of traditional assembly.
“We’re certainly following and watching that technology, but in high volumes 3-D just isn’t fast enough,” he said. “There are some low-volume applications in which that might work, but for the foreseeable future it won’t be used in high-volume production.”
Local Motors said its low-speed EV is scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2016 and will be priced between $18,000 and $30,000.
The startup, based in Phoenix, Ariz., garnered attention earlier this year when it 3-D printed an entire concept vehicle at the Detroit auto show.
“At Local Motors, we are hellbent on revolutionizing manufacturing,” John Rogers, Jr., CEO of Local Motors, said in a statement. “Car manufacturers have been stamping parts the same way for more than 100 years. We now have the technology to make the process and products better and faster by linking the online to the offline through DMM [Direct Digital Manufacturing].”
Another startup out of San Francisco, Divergent Microfactories, also urges that 3-D printing is the wave of the future in automotive manufacturing.
The company is using 3-D metal printing to develop alloy connectors that join carbon fiber tubing in the chassis of its 3-D printed supercar, dubbed the Blade.
“No one is thinking about structure,” CEO Kevin Czinger said. “If there is going to be any kind of fundamental change in automotive manufacturing, it has to be with chassis and structure … 3-D metal printing holds much more promise.”
Ford Motor Co. recently partnered with Silicon Valley 3-D printing firm Carbon3D to look for new and better ways to use 3-D printing, but the company’s technical expert in 3-D printing Harold Sears said that 3-D printing parts for mass production isn’t on the table yet.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out,” he said. “But for the time being the best investment is using this technology for prototyping and making our manufacturing tools more efficient.”
