3D Printed Vehicles could soon be a reality for all!

[Mike Lucey]

Hi Guys,

I know that many of you like me are fascinated with cars but in most cases its from an onlookers perspective as we can have virtually no design input to what we would like to be driving.

This could soon be about to change with a brilliant concept by Kevin Czinger. His proposed new and innovative vehicle building system uses 3D printing technology that could quite easily bring vehicle building to small communities. He says, using his system that a car producing plant could be set up for $10m as against up to a $1b cost which only the big players can afford these days.

It looks that in Kevin Czinger's case its been a, 'if at first you don't succeed, then try, try and try again'! His first car building venture, Coda, went into bankruptcy but I think his new company, http://www.divergentmicrofactories.com will be a huge success.

The basic concept is quite simple as is often the case with great ideas. Its simply to build a chassis using 3D printed aluminium 'nodes' which are connected by carbon-fiber tubes to form a very strong frame. The rest of the vehicle is formed using not overly complex and costly traditional methods.

A solid point he makes is that building vehicles this way reduces the energy and costs involved in current manufacturing methods. This in turn makes this system much cheaper also 'greener' and that is to be welcomed.