According to foreign media reports, the first 3D-printed car will be mass-produced next year, and its manufacturers believe that the model will have an impact on the entire industry. Chinese company Polymaker and Italian car company X Electrical Vehicle (XEV) manufactured using 3D printing technology Low speed electric vehicle (LSEV) similar in size to Smart.
Vehicles built using traditional methods are not many, only chassis, windshields and tires. This means that, like most 3D printing products, this process drastically reduces the amount of waste generated during the mass production of automobiles. Polymaker's boss Xiaofan Luo revealed that this will encourage more car companies to adopt 3D printing technology.
Polymaker uses 3D printing technology to reduce the number of automotive plastic parts from 2,000 (if using conventional manufacturing methods) to 57, and this decisive technological improvement will significantly reduce the environmental damage caused by vehicle production.
To this end, the company built a prototype vehicle with a range of 93 miles and a speed of 43 mph. It is worth mentioning that the prototype only weighs 450 kg, which is almost half that of the Smart Fortwo. The low-speed electric vehicles are being exhibited in the Chinese 3D Printing and Cultural Museum in Shanghai. They will go to Beijing to participate in the exhibition next month.
The production time of this prototype is 3 days. According to XEV's estimation, the annual output of each production line will reach 500 units/year. It is expected to start selling the model at the end of 2019, which may be sold in China first, and its forecast price. About 7100 pounds.