First 3D-printed car

In September 2014, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, USA, the first 3D-printed car consisting of both the chassis and body was printed over a five-day period. Named the “Strati”, the car took a total of 44 hours to make and is completely driveable. It was the brainchild of crowd-funded Local Motors, who ran a “3D Printed Car Design Challenge”. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, Local Motors completed the car’s detailed design with help from Oak Ridge National Lab and the manufacturing company SABIC. The competition winner, and car's designer Michele Anoé beat more than 200 entrants in more than 30 countries and won a US$5,000 cash prize as well as the honour of seeing the Strati printed “live” at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS). While no other car could claim to have both its chassis and body printed together, Kor Ecologic’s three-wheeled “Urbee” was created with a 3D-printed body in November 2013. This teardrop-shaped vehicle, however, was printed with only lightweight plastic panels and features while still requiring a standard internal frame. The crowd-funded project is described by its manufacturers as “the greenest car on Earth”.

Local Motors’ Strati, in contrast, took every part of the car that wasn’t intrinsic to its mechanics and printed it in a single pass.