An electric vehicle may soon be more affordable than you think
Thanks for large format 3d printing, new possibilities are coming
The main problem with bringing electric cars to the general
public is that the price of these types of vehicles considerably more than the
gas-powered cars that everyone buys. This leaves little room for purchasing
incentive even among those who have strong feelings about minimizing their
carbon footprint. While any people do understand the importance of developing
more affordable models for consumers to drive in greener ways as we move
forward as a human race, there should be real efforts being made to sway
consumers by presenting electric cars as a new wave of not only function but
also the form to make it as personalized as possible.
Large scale 3D printed electric vehicles are therefore
different from traditional cars that are brought to market as you don´t need the
massive resources of an industry giant to get going for the simple reason that
the tool checklist that you require is relatively short which in turn is free
to leave a considerable amount of creative authority to entrepreneurs. However,
like all new technologies, the place to start is to offer modest vehicles that
can serve as a platform for expansion and improvement after all one of the
biggest problems with many industries is a tendency towards monopolization that
through its very nature yields little room for creativity and niche
consideration.
The most crucial thing to make not electric cars in general
but all large format 3D printing vehicles a success is awareness. Ordinary
people need to welcome it as a sustainable reality that is worth considering.
It´s a lot to ask for when people are largely pleased with what they have and
although many aren´t paying too much attention to the electric car market this
may all change thanks to large format 3D printing impressive ability to bring
costs down and speed up productivity which means that mass production appears
to be right around the corner. One of the best prospects to be making waves in
a while comes by way of China where a company that goes by XEV developed,
alongside Polymaker, an electric car printed using large format 3D printing technology
with a price tag of just 7,500. This very reasonably priced model that goes by
the name of the LSEV was showcased at Shanghai´s China Large Format 3D Printing
Cultural Museum and is poised to tour around and present itself as the world´s
very first mass produced electric car that´s fully made through additive
manufacturing. They’re after a big market, which is welcomed news from a
country that is responsible for the greatest percentage of industrial
contamination and may start to curve its toxicity output through innovative
efforts.
The LSEV is set to be so affordable because of its miniature
size that doesn’t require too much raw material. It´s a two-seater, that
although isn’t the toughest car out on the road its carbon footprint couldn’t
be smaller. Take for instance it´s small wheels that take little rubber to
produce and as such are a whole lot cheaper than your average car wheel. In
China, it is being heralded as a milestone product in terms of the adoption of
3D technology into mainstream production lines. Not an easy feat, and as such those
come with limitations. The car offers a top speed of only 43 mph and a fairly
modest range of only 90 miles. With cars of this stature, safety is also being
questioned as the issues that may arise when behind the wheel of a 992-pound
car are yet to be fully understood.
As we as a race try to find paths towards a more sustainable
future we need to use the tools that are available to us to positively change
the way people live in the day to day. Some may dismiss efforts like the LSEV
as goofy and not worth the embarrassment that comes with being seen in public
in it, however at the same time much of what we value today had humble
beginnings. No one can deny that it has an efficient construction process. It
takes less than a year, and in some cases even as a little as 3 months, to
produce in its entirety.
The exciting part is that we may begin to witness the
emergence of all kinds of new niche vehicles that have yet to exist in mass
because the processes that have traditionally been in use would make their
production at even the smallest scales far too expensive. Obviously, the first
large-format 3D printed electric cars will be pretty small, but over time the
market will decide what individuals are really after. The hope is that in the
future electric cars appeal to the industry that would aspire to market them
precisely because public opinion would be strong.
Eco-friendly vehicles that don’t cost an arm or a leg are
one of the biggest niches just waiting to blossom in the industry and you don´t
have to be a tycoon to get one off the ground thanks to additive manufacturing.
A very promising model is The Drop, a three-wheel electric vehicle that keeps
costs down to a minimum in large part because it is 3D printed using recycled
materials. Priced at around 10,000, it is already on the market and is ideal
for those who want to keep their car costs down toa minimum. While it may not
be the flashiest car on the road it fulfills it’s commuting purpose quite well.
This isn’t to say that you can’t take it on long trips at it features a battery
life of 300 kilometers.
One thing that makes The Drop special is that its developer
Ira Munn worked alongside students at Massey University in southern New
Zealand, gathering their input to give The Drop an attractive design that
speaks to our stylistic sensibilities. Large format 3D printed cars should be
developed in this way, by passionate individuals who are asking and answering
what type of car do they want to ride around in public, and not just what will
sell most across the board.
The laypeople should be mulling large format 3D printing
implications over in their own minds so that some of them may actually start to
be fleshed out. People may have just been waiting to be presented with the
right kinds of possibilities. One example might be a safari company that needs
tough SUV´s to handle wild terrain, or a country club that orders up golf carts
with very specific design features to compliment the particular attributes of
their courses. For instance, if there are a lot of water obstacles that in
effect serve to define the place they could incorporate aquatic features into
the carts that play up this theme.
There are all sorts of questions about what types of cars
have we yet to dream up simply because the industry thus far has been, pretty
aggressively, geared towards family-based markets which has taken a certain
amount of adventurous drive out of the market’s tires. While family friendly
models are all good and dandy for making the safest vehicles, for groups of
people there are other demographics that could make use of the specializing
capabilities that new large format 3D printing methods. Experimentation is the
cornerstone of large format3D printing, and within areas like electric cars
this should be seen as the burgeoning opportunity that it can be.