Topic: Is the Future of Car Manufacturing in 3D Printing?

[knightstorm]

Personally, I'd be afraid to drive one of these things unless all conventional cars were retired.

http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/18/is-the-future-of-car-manufacturing-in-3d-printing/

It looks like an oversized Lego construction, weighs a mere 81 kilograms (178 pounds) and is assembled from scratch in under two hours. Students of the Aalborg University in Denmark 3D-printed hundreds of parts holding together their car for the Shell Eco-marathon competition in Rotterdam. Is this the future of car manufacturing? (See related post: “It’s Not About Speed as 30th Eco-marathon Europe Begins.”)

[Age]

I'll ride motorcycle over that.

[knightstorm]

Well, I figure if you scaled that up to a full sized car, the thing would probably weigh less than 1,000 lbs.  It would probably give great fuel economy, but the problem is that it would also be a death trap in a collision with a conventional car.  A modern SUV could probably go through it without even slowing down.

[Vipre]

Try not to confuse "proof of concept" with "end product".

[Brush Wolf]

Try not to confuse "proof of concept" with "end product".

This, it is not a car for the real world, it is a race car, in this case the race is fuel mileage. Printed parts will slowly work their way into car production just as aluminum has been used more and more in mass production cars and trucks.