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IPFS News Link • 3D Printing

3D-printed supercar a new entry in 'green' auto manufacturing race

• http://www.ocregister.com, BY SUSAN

But to Kevin Czinger, whether a car is powered with an internal combustion engine or an electric motor, a diesel engine or a hydrogen fuel cell, the method of propulsion matters less than the manufacturing process.

"If you want to innovate, you have to find a new mode of production because that's where the material and energy and capital costs are," said Czinger, founder and CEO of Divergent Microfactories.

On Wednesday, the company revealed exactly what sort of new production mode might be the vehicle for such innovation. It's called Blade – a 3D-printed supercar.

A fully functioning vehicle, only the chassis for the 1,388-pound two-seat sports car was built from metal alloy parts that were 3D-printed, rather than cast. Those nodes, as Czinger calls them, connect in a modular system with carbon-fiber tubes to form the car's underlying structure, similar to Legos.


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