Saturday, March 1, 2014

First 3D printed production vehicle to be built

Local Motors Inc., co-creator of vehicles and related components with a global community of designers, engineers, fabricators and enthusiasts, today announced that AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, which supports and promotes the US manufacturing technology industry, will be the first customer for its previously announced 3D-printed production vehicle.

Local Motors will build and deliver the first direct digital manufactured vehicle at IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show 2014 in Chicago, IL, on September 8-13, 2014. Designed by the company’s global community and built using the material science and advanced manufacturing techniques available at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Local Motors will produce an electric vehicle purpose-built for the urban transportation needs of Chicago.

IMTS, a large, long-running manufacturing technology trade show, is held every two years at the McCormick Place Exhibition Center. At IMTS 2012, Local Motors built its flagship Rally Fighter from the ground up in 5 days over the course of the 6-day show. This year, AMT and Local Motors have partnered to demonstrate how sustainable green technologies, utilizing advanced manufacturing techniques that are both additive and subtractive, can deliver stronger, safer, faster, more efficient vehicles.

“IMTS is the perfect venue on which to showcase the next evolution of Local Motors’ World of Vehicle Innovations,” said Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers. “To deliver the first co-created, locally relevant, 3D-printed vehicle on an international stage dedicated to celebrating cutting-edge manufacturing technology is powerful reinforcement of our commitment to driving the Third Industrial Revolution.”

“Local Motors is undeniably the first disruptive entrant into the US automotive industry in decades,” said Bonnie Gurney, director, communications for AMT. “The innovations they are driving in the design, manufacture, and sale of vehicles has been empowering individual innovators since 2007. Partnering with them to deliver safer, more functional, lightweight, and efficient vehicles via new, innovative manufacturing technologies is core to our commitment to bring global technology advancements to the local level.”

The finished vehicle will be used as an example of how sustainable green technologies can reduce life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions, lower production cost, and create new products and opportunities for high paying jobs.

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