So 3D-printing is becoming a big thing. Currently you can get 3D-printed body parts, 3D-printed airplane parts, 3D-printed pizza and of course 3D-printed sex toys. Now the revolutionary technology is set to takeover the roads with the first 3D-printed supercar.
This wondrous piece of engineering is called the “Blade,” and it was developed by a San Francisco-based startup Divergent Microfactories. The Blade goes from 0 to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, thanks to a 700-horsepower bi-fuel engine that uses compressed natural gas or gasoline.
The Blade’s chassis is quite unique because it is not one giant slab of metal. Connecting the frame are 3D-printed aluminum “Node” joints. The printed carbon fiber tubes that make up the chassis plug into these nodes to form a strong and lightweight frame for the rest of the vehicle. Divergent claims that this method can reduce the weight of the chassis by as much as 90 percent compared to conventional cars. The Blade weighs only 1,400 pounds, much to the fact that it is made of carbon fiber and not steel or aluminum.
“With this approach we can build a very strong and very light chassis, and do so while saving energy and generating less pollution,” Divergent said.
The company plans to produce only a limited number of these spectacular vehicles to start, but hopes to franchise their technology out to smaller manufacturers to create their own 3D-printed vehicles.
“We’ve developed a sustainable path forward for the car industry that we believe will result in a renaissance in car manufacturing, with innovative, eco-friendly cars like Blade being designed and built in microfactories around the world,” Divergent CEO Kevin Czinger said.
Besides a sweet-looking car, there is also an environmentally beneficial advantage from this manufacturing process.
“Society has made great strides in its awareness and adoption of cleaner and greener cars,” Czinger said. “The problem is that while these cars do now exist, the actual manufacturing of them is anything but environmentally friendly.”
When these beasts are available and the pricing were not revealed, but it makes me want to run out and buy a 3D printer.
[PCMAG]