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'3D print' your dream car and zoom on the road

'3D print' your dream car and zoom on the road

A Japanese company, Daihatsu, which designs small cars, has revealed new plans to allow customers to design their own set of wheels.

 

The company has been developing two-seater cars, Daihatsu Copen, which comes in 15 "effect skin" variations.

 

However, designing 3D print based cars would be a new challenge for the company.

 

The service is currently in the testing phase, but the company plans to roll out its new attempt by 2017, a report by The Economist has claimed.

 

Here is how you can realise your dream design

 

All you need to do is to go to a 3D print car manufacturer and show them a picture of the car of your dreams.

 

The designer will ‘break’ the design into various parts and these will produced by the 3D printers.

 

All the parts will be of special plastic fibres and will be sent to the assembly line, which is where the (externally bought) metal parts of the car will be attached to them.

 

Watch this video for an illustration of how your car would be designed:
 

 

The technology itself is not new to the tech world as an American designer designed a similar '3D print' car in the year 2015.

 

Car designers and manufacturers world-wide, however, are likely to keep a close watch on the Japanese launch.

 

The 3D print technology will accomplish the various initial steps of car designing, including the traditional machine-assisted putting together of parts in a defined way.

 

Not only would this tech result in cheaper cars, but also allow customers to pick and choose their car parts.

 

Also, if the car is damaged the repairing cost would be minimum.

 

The 3D printing technology has been well tested and accepted in the airline industry and is already being used for fitting and manufacturing the body and cabin parts.

 

America designed the first 3D print car 

 

'Starti', the first ever 3D printed car, in 2014, took around 44 hours to manufacture. The car was built during the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, Illinois.

 

'Starti' was not just a car that saved on the manufacturing cost but also saved fuel charges as it was claimed to be the first 3D printed car ever to run on electricity.

 

On a fully-charged battery, 'Starti' was said to be able to cover a distance of 190 km at a top speed of 60kmph.

 

 

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