Create a free Manufacturing.net account to continue

Local Motors Unveils A 3D Printed Car For Mass Production

The all-electric LM3D Swim will contain about 75 percent 3D-printed parts.

Automotive startup Local Motors has been teasing us with 3D printed vehicles for a while now. Earlier this year it showed off its Strati in Detroit with hopes of selling them this year. Now the company has pulled back the curtain on the LM3D swim, the first 3D-printed car designed for mass production.

The all-electric LM3D Swim will contain about 75 percent 3D-printed parts, but the company plans to continue design development to increase that number to 90 percent as the technology advances.

"In the past few months our engineers have moved from only a rendering to the car you see in front of you today," Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers told the crowd at SEMA, where the car debuted.

The company hopes to show off several variations of the LM3D that uses the same chassis throughout 2016 with plans to begin deliveries in 2017. Preorders will start in spring 2016 and come at an estimated retail prices of $53,000. That will be contingent on having a production facility and the chassis passing federal crash tests.

Local Motors is currently building a factory in Knoxville, Tenn. slated to open this year.

Take a look at the LM3D here:

More in Automotive