LOCAL MOTORS TO TURN CAR-MANUFACTURING ON ITS HEAD WITH NEW FACILITIES

3D Printing 'Micro-Factories' Set to Open in 2015

Local Motors, pioneers in 3D printed cars, is moving closer to making its vision of the future of car manufacturing, a reality. The company is famous for 3D printing its Strati concept vehicle at the IMTS in Chicago in just 44 hours and more recently at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The crowd sourced and open sourced vehicle was printed on Cincinnati Inc’s BAAM printer.

Local Motors plans for the future stretch way past one off promotional builds. The company claims it has disrupted the very way “vehicles are designed, built and sold,” and will take this one step further this year by constructing two new 3D car-printing facilities, the first of which will be located in Tennessee, US, next to long-term partner Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The second micro-factory is set to go under construction in the third quarter of 2015 in the US capital, Washington, DC. Local Motors aim to construct vehicles on a local basis, ideally within 100 miles (161 km) of a major urban hub. This it is claimed will reduce freight and distribution costs (apparently by 97 percent) while also reducing waste and improving delivery times of merchandise to market. The 40,000 square feet (3700 Sq m) micro-manufacturing plant will consist of a research and education section, Vehicle Showroom and Build Floor; a radical departure from the current car-manufacturing set-up we know today.