Local Motors Aims To Produce 3D-Printed Car In 2016

Wow, Local Motors sure is busy this year. This unusual auto manufacturer specializes in collaborative open source design, microfactories, and 3D printing, and we took note when the company kicked off 2015 by hooking up with the US Energy Department for a new lightweight design challenge. What we didn’t note was this other challenge launched by Local Motors, which could put you behind the wheel of a fully customized 3D printed car some time next year.

3D Printing

The latest challenge comes under the heading Project, which Local Motors playfully introduced with a video that would put the most insistent Jade Helm conspiracy theorist to shame (seriously, ice cream truck morgues?).

The challenge was to design “the next generation of 3D-printed cars,” and qualifying entries had to demonstrate that the design could result in the world’s first road-ready 3D printed car, which Local Motors really does plan to put into production in 2016.

The idea is to roll out a low-speed version at the beginning of the year, and follow it up with a “fully homologated highway-ready” model before 2017 (homologated is fancy-speak for a vehicle approved for a particular use).

The winning entry was announced last week, and it’s a twofer that demonstrates the high degree of customization enabled by 3D printing. Kevin Lo, a long-time Local Motors collaborator known as Reload, won for a duo of designs called Reload Swim and Reload Sport.

Reload Swim is a 2+2 buggy that recalls Pimp My Ride with a beach party–ready sound system:

Reload Sport, shown at the top of this article, features a more sleek, look-at-me-I’m-aggressive approach to style.

The secret sauce is a hull-based foundation that forms a “skateboard” upon which other elements are added:

Did we mention that the new 3D printed car will be an electric vehicle? It will be, and the placement of the batteries was done to maximize the compatibility of the design with 3D printing. You can get more details about the construction from the Local Motors slideshow, or check out the company’s somewhat bombastically produced (on purpose, we’re guessing) video:

Vote On The Open Source Local Motors Sports Car

Last month, open source DIY automaker Local Motors launched its next big design contest, and this one has production ambitions. The goal? Create a high-performance, low-cost track racer for performance purists.

Local Motors has has existed for just a few years, but its open source philosophy has garnered it a lot of press. It’s first (and so far only) production vehicle, the Rally Fighter, was designed via the same kind of contest being held for the sports car platform. This has naturally drawn talented designers from across the world, and 200 submissions have been entered into this dream contest. The stakes are high too, as first prize gets not just $7,500 in prize money, but a royalty check for every car they sold build on the “SportsCar” platform.

That could add up to a lot of cheddar, as Local Motors is targeting a market segment ripe for the plucking. The design contest calls for a small, two-seat rear-wheel drive race car with a four-cylinder engine, no roof, no roll cage, and no doors; you just get in and drive that bad boy. It should also weigh less than 1,600 pounds, and cost about $30,000. Voting began on Monday, reports Jalopnik, and ends on the 12th of September.

Dedicated track racers like the Ariel Atom redefined how many people thought of sports cars, though the high cost made it impossible for most people to justify owning one. But at $30,000, Local Motors could build a car with a much wider potential audience. While it definitely still falls in the “toy” category, it’s the kind of toy the average man can actually aspire to own one day.

Meanwhile, Local Motors is trying to change how we think of designing and building cars, not just open sourcing their designs, but also embracing 3D printing as a means of automotive manufacturing. Local Motors is no Tesla, but it’s also changing the way we think about manufacturing automobiles.

Local Motors Has Chosen A Design For Its 3D Printed Car

Winners have emerged from Local Motors’ 3D Printed Car Design Challenge to design the ultimate 3D-printable car. A few months back, Local Motors began testing the logistics of 3D printing an entire car live at the International Manufacturing Technology Show. Over the course of the 6 day event, the team will print one of the over 200 designs submitted to the challenge.

Two winners have already been chosen as a possible base to the team’s final design. A designer by the name of Michele Anoé submitted the judge-favored Strati, a two-seat buggy featuring a single-piece body, which allows for optimal printing time, and removable seats. While the majority of the Strati’s design can be printed live, several aluminum and carbon fiber reinforcement features may have to be modified, unless the team plans on bringing in some extra equipment.

While the Strati was the judge favorite design, the crowd-favorite design went by the name ISF (Internal Strut Frame). The car’s open body design has a much sportier feel than the go-kart styled Strati with openings reminiscent of an animal skull and utilizes avian bone structure to maximize structural integrity and aerodynamics. A sleeker design usually wins the heart of the crowd but the judges must also decide which design can be 3D-printed in a such a short time frame with minimal modifications.

The Strati designs will have the honor of occupying the minds of Local Motors’ design team and providing a starting point for the final designs. Some features may have to go to optimize their time at the show  while features from other designs, like the ISF, may be added in but the Strati designs have already taken home a $5000 1^st place prize and the bragging rights that come with it.

Source | Pictures: Local Motors

Local Motors’ Electric Drift Trike is a Thing of Awesome

Built by crowdsourcing favorites Local Motors, the electric, adult-sized BigWheel you see here is called the Verrado- and it is every kind of awesome there is.

There are very few feelings in life like the thrill you got when you pulled your first 360 on your BigWheel. Like so many of the most amazing things that will ever happen to you, you were probably too young to remember it- and there’s no way to find that feel again. Or, is there?

That’s what the sport of drift triking is all about: re-capturing the thrills of your BigWheel-inspired youth in old age. To that end, Chris and I, both, have professed that we’d be willing to die on (or, rather, being thrown off of) a high-quality drift trike. “High quality”, of course, being a necessity- and that’s where Local Motors comes in.

After building the top-shelf Rally Fighter and introducing the board-track inspired Cruiser a short while ago, Local Motors should need no introduction. For their drift trike, Local stuffs a MagicPie 3-hub brushless motor and a lithium cobalt manganese battery into the bike’s “big” 20-inch front wheel. Out back, five-inch steel wheels are fitted with 10-inch kart tires for grip- and those are wrapped in PVC plastic sleeves almost an inch thick for drifting. Disc brakes with a KERS-like regenerative braking system help bring the trike to a stop in a hurry if things get too hairy.

I have a feeling, however, that hitting the brakes on one of these Local drift trike deals would be morally wrong.

I’ll need about $1600 to find out, however. That’s what Local Motors is asking for a new Verrado, which is scheduled to start shipping out to its well-heeled customers in June. (Get it? See what I did there? Well-heeled … Ha!)

Source | Photos: Gizmag.

Local Motors Latest Crowd Sourced Project: the Cruiser Moped

We’ve covered a number of Kickstarter hopefuls looking to launch their company through crowdsourcing the funding they need to produce their vision for the next craze in women’s cycling underwear or to introduce a dirt bike aesthetic to urban moped commuters. We talked about Local Motors’ first commercial product, the Rally Fighter off-road sportscar, back in 2010. Since then, the company has looked to its crowd of design-fan followers for its next big idea. It wasn’t the Dominos Pizza Ultimate Delivery Vehicle that got the nod, however, it was the Cruiser moped shown here.

In its gas-powered form (shown), the Cruiser uses a 50 cc Honda motor and a 0.6 gallon tank to achieve a governed top speed of 34 MPH and a theoretical range of about 70 miles. That’s just over 115 MPG to you and me! In addition, the Cruiser is also being offered as an electric bicycle with a brushless electric drive system that’s good for 27 MPH over 20 miles of range.

You can see Jay Rogers, Local Motors’ CEO, introduce the board track inspired Cruiser designed by Ianis Vasilatos in the video, below- but if you want to skip ahead to the good part: the Local Motors Cruiser moped project has already met and exceeded the company’s $50,000 goal, and is set to deliver its first 13 functional mopeds to eager customers by April 2014.

Source | Images: Local Motors, via Asphalt and Rubber.

Local Motors And Dominos Pick The Ultimate Delivery Vehicle

While you probably haven’t heard of Local Motors, it is one of the most unique takes on the auto industry of the future. By crowdsourcing car designs, Local Motors has built up an incredible internet presence and fanbase, as well as strategic partnerships with larger companies. Dominos Pizza recently asked the Local Motors Forge to pen their version of the “ultimate delivery vehicle,” and the crowd of would-be designers delivered.

Over 200 entries were received for this Local Motors/Dominos contest, no doubt drawn by the grand prize of $10,000. That prize went to Alej Kostrevic of Slovakia, who called his design the “Dominos Pack.” Powered either by a Fiat two-cylinder or a Ford three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, the Pack has an insulated pizza box, as well as cooling chambers for drinks.

Kostrevic designed the Dominos Pack with the driver in mind, including door system that can be opened by swiping your foot under the rear end. This is similar to a Ford lands-free liftgate found on the new Escape SUV. Sure, it’s no Rally Fighter, but it is still pretty cool.

There are more phases to this contest before a finished product is settled on, and who knows? Dominos might actually build such a vehicle…or ask Local Motors to build it for them. There is the intent to at least build a working prototype.

As it is, Local Motors is forging alliances with companies like Dominos and even automakers like BMW, who perhaps see crowdsourcing as a way to design better cars. It’s one of the few chances average people have to influence the designs of a large company…and it could set the stage for a design revolution.

As for the Dominos Pack, well, I’d rather get my pizza delivered in that than the run-down Jetta my local pizza boy uses.

Source: Local Motors