World's first 3-D printed car takes test drive [Eventual Doom of UAW?]

WYFF-TV ^ | 9/16/14 | Sean Lewis

[SoFloFreeper]

In a matter of two days, history was made at Chicago's McCormick Place, as the world's first 3-D printed electric car -- named Strati, Italian for "layers"-- took its first test drive.

"Less than 50 parts are in this car," said Jay Rogers from Local Motors.

[SoFloFreeper]

The first step in dismantling the thugs of the unions?

[Red Badger]

[Cringing Negativism Network]

That’s actually an interesting design.

Build them in America, however.

[refermech]

50 parts? Must not include any of the electrics.

[Red Badger]

The top speed of the Strati is 40 mph and a it goes a range of 120 miles on one charge.

Okay for commuter, but kinda slow for NASCAR...................

[Red Badger]

Attendees got a firsthand look at the body of the car being printed layer by layer over a 44-hour period. Then, the non-printable parts, like the engine, lights and glass windshield, were added.

[poobear]

Maybe. Still an electric vehicle topping 40 mph. Doubt Detroit is too worried. The printing of a decent battery replacement on the cheap might shake ‘em up!

[miliantnutcase]

Already further than the Chevy Volt lol...

[null and void]

Odd that the Urbee has disappeared from the universe...

3-D Printer Ping!

[Red Badger]

Cheaper and cuter, too! ....and No Union Labor...................

[Red Badger]

http://www.technologyreview.com/demo/521956/printing-batteries/

[SoFloFreeper]

I don’t think this is immediate....but a possible eventual death knell for unions.

Think of the technology in 3, 5, 10, years....

[Beagle8U]

All they did was ‘print’ some body parts, they didn’t print a car. A carpenter could do that in his garage using hand tools, a plywood frame, and hand laid fiberglass. Likely in less time.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Yeah, “less time,” if you throw out the time required to become a “carpenter.”

[TexasGator]

“A carpenter could do that in his garage using hand tools, a plywood frame, and hand laid fiberglass. Likely in less time.”

And it would look like crap and the parts wouldn’t fit right and it would fall apart as soon as you tried to drive it.

[Scutter]

Here are some 3D printing facts that one should keep in mind when reading an article on the topic from media sources that don't really understand the technology.

• 3D printing is slow. It can take hours to print the parts for even a very simple prototype.
• 3D printed parts are not suitable for any sort of load-bearing application. They are not structurally sound. The posted article is very short on facts, but I can say with absolute certainty that they did not 3D print the actual engine. There has been some experimentation with 3D printing metal powder, which is then cast. I think this is what was used for the 3D printed gun. But this technology is still very experimental.
• 3D printing can be tricky to get right, and has problems with parts that have certain geometric characteristics (for example, it doesn't do parts with sharp overhangs).

So given all that, no, 3D printing is not even remotely close to creating the "Eventual Doom of UAW". In fact, if robotic assembly didn't do that, it's hard to see how 3D printing will.

3D printing is great for prototyping small parts. For example, at my job we 3D printed a 3D model of a populated circuit board so that we could check that the board when installed in the server had adequate clearance and wouldn't hang up on anything when the server was inserted or removed from the rack.

3D printing is not yet a substitute for more traditional methods of manufacturing such as subtractive methods (milling, machining), casting, etc.

[thackney]

Already further than the Chevy Volt lol...

The Volt is a hybrid with a 380 mile range.

[caligatrux]

Then, the non-printable parts, like the engine, lights and glass windshield, were added.

[HangnJudge]

If you wait a year, this may go on sale
Elio motors at $6800

[thackney]

Click the pic for views of the runner ups.