3-D Printed Urbee Car – Future of Automotive?

Tim Esterdahl | Mar 08, 2013 | Comments 5

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The buzz lately in the tech world is about 3-D printing. And now, an automotive engineer has developed an automobile using this printing technology. From car parts to entire cars, is the future of automotive in a printer?

Engineer Jim Kor inside his design for the Urbee 2 – very efficient.
Photo from Wired.com and Sara Payne.

If you haven’t heard this story yet, Jim Kor has engineered what he calls the Urbee. It is essentially 3-D printed car with a hybrid engine. The process is a bit involved as you might imagine. By using the equipment at RedEye, an on-demand 3-D printing shop, the printers use ABS plastic that sprays molten polymer to build the chassic layer in microscopic increments to build the car. Essentially, Kor uploads a design, presses a button and the automated machine does its thing. When he comes back to it, hundred hours later or so, he has a bumper. The entire 3-wheeled two-passenger car takes about 2,500 hours to build according to Wired.com.

While the car isn’t by any means a race car, it does have several advantages including a curb weight of just 1,200 pounds. This combined with a 36-volt electric motor and a diesel engine, the prototype produces a maximum of 10 horsepower. While slow, it doesn’t use much gas though and the plan is to drive from San Francisco to New York on 10 gallons of pure ethanol.

This photo really shows how small the Urbee is. However, it could be quite practical for some drivers.
Photo from Wired.com and Sara Payne.

One of the big questions is safety. The printer helps with that a bit since it can be set to add thickness and rigidity to specific sections like say the bumper. Essentially, the bumper could be as resilient as say the Prius while being much lighter. Plus, Kor is focused on what he calls “race car safety. We want the car to pass the tech inspection required at Le Mans.”

This is largely accomplished through design which includes a tubular cage around the driver (think Nascar). To overcome Gov’t regulations on safety, the Urbee will be registered as a motorcycle, which is really is.

Kor says they already have orders for 14 and they estimate the cost to be around $50,000.

Much like most protypes of things, we don’t see this as being really that useful. However, it is definitely a precursor of what could be. Someday, we might live in a world, where if you need to replace your water pump for example, you print out a new one. Incredible.

For more information on the future of 3-D printable car parts, check out 3DCarParts.org.

Filed Under: Auto News

Tags: 3d car parts • 3d cars • 3d printing • jim kor car • urbee 3-d car

Comments (5)

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1. mendonsy says:

   March 11, 2013 at 5:06 am

   Kinda looks like the Jetson’s car from the old TV show.

2. Mickey says:

   March 11, 2013 at 7:22 am

   Agree and isn’t that George in that vehicle?

   • Tim Esterdahl says:

     March 11, 2013 at 7:32 am

     You do have to wonder if he was inspired by the Jetsons. I definitely has an odd shape.

     -Tim

3. mk says:

   March 11, 2013 at 8:17 pm

   neat idea, but who in their right mind can afford these hybrids? Why would anyone pay over 30K for these go-carts on 4 wheels is beyond reasoning. I’d be all over a hybrid truck or fuel efficient car if ONLY 3-4K over non hybrid equivalent but 7K+ on over is sooo not worth the added expense. Make them affordable and people will buy them, simple as that.

   • Tim Esterdahl says:

     March 12, 2013 at 5:45 am

     MK,

     The bigger picture is the weight savings from a 3D printed bumper. Who cares about the car, it is only going to be bought as a novelty item. Yet, if automakers can build a bumper that has the same crash test ratings with a significant reduction in weight, that is the future. With all automakers looking to drop weight on their vehicles, this car could be a breakthrough in weight reduction technologies that will make that happen.

     -Tim