Strati is an

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

developed by

Local Motors Local Motors was an American motor vehicle manufacturing company focused on low-volume manufacturing of open-source motor vehicle designs using multiple microfactories. It was founded in 2007 by John B. Rogers Jr and had headquarters in Phoenix ...

and manufactured in collaboration with

Cincinnati Incorporated Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...

. It is the world's first electric car to heavily utilize

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

during the production process. The car was manufactured using a Large Scale 3D Printer developed by

ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...

and Cincinnati Inc. The car took just 44 hours to print during the 2014

International Manufacturing Technology Show The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), first held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1927 , is a trade show that features industrial machinery and technology. It is the largest manufacturing technology trade show in North America, and in 1990 w ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. The printing was followed by three days of milling and assembling, with the completed car first test-driven on September 13, 2014. Strati is claimed to be the world's first 3D-Printed electric car.

Design

In April 2014, Local Motors organized the 3D Printed Car Design Challenge

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

to assist in the production of a full-body 3D-printed car. Seven finalists were selected from more than 200 submissions. In June 2014, Local Motors announced that the challenge was won by Michele Anoé of Italy, who was awarded the $5,000 prize. After the contest, Local Motors took the design and made several modifications so that the car could be manufactured through 3D-Printing.

Specifications

The two-seat Strati is considered to be a "neighborhood" electric car. Depending on the configuration of the battery packs, the range of the car can be with top speeds of . The car is not designed to be used on highways, as it does not meet the required safety test requirements. Production is planned by the end of 2015, with prices between $18,000 and $30,000.

File:Local Motors Strati.jpg, Front 3/4 view File:Strati front.jpg, Front view with steering details exposed File:Local Motors Strati Rear.jpg, Rear 3/4 view File:Strati rear view.jpg, Rear view

Manufacturing

Following the design competition, Local Motors handed off the design to the engineers at ORNL who perfected the process of Large Scale 3D Printing such that the Local Motors design could actually be manufactured. ORNL worked with Cincinnati Incorporated to develop the printer that would allow for the printing of the entire car. With the printer, ORNL and Cincinnati Inc. manufactured all body parts of the car and allowed for easy mounting of the mechanical parts, such as the electric motors and batteries. Strati is printed from

thermoplastic A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associat ...

using a big area additive manufacturing (BAAM)BAAM
machine (a large FDM 3D-printer). This material is fully recyclable, which can be chopped and reprocessed to be used in printing another car. After the car is printed, the mechanical and electrical parts such as battery, motors, and suspension are manually assembled. The printing process has been improved by ORNL since July 2014, bringing the printing time of 140 hours down to less than 45 hours in September. Since IMTS, ORNL has brought the printing time of the Strati to less than 24 hours and is continuing their research efforts with the hope of printing the car in less than 10 hours.

The world's first title

Disputes exist over the title of the world's first 3D-printed car. In 2010, a hybrid car "Urbee" Urbee
was 3D-printed using an additive manufacturing process for the entire body. Local Motors claimed that Urbee's manufacturer only 3D-printed the panels and other exterior parts, but used standard parts for the internal structure. For Strati, the company claimed that 3D printing was used for all except the parts that are "mechanically involved". Strati claims to be the world's first 3D-printed electric car.

References

External links

Local Motors Website

Cincinnati Incorporated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Local Motors Strati Electric cars Open hardware vehicles 3D printed objects Cars introduced in 2014