Space Travel News  
CAR TECH
First Car To Have Entire Body 3D Printed

Stratasys is partnering with Kor Ecologic to 3D print the entire body of Urbee, a 200 mpg hybrid that charges for pennies a night. (Photo: Kor Ecologic)
by Staff Writers
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Nov 04, 2010
Stratasys has announced its development partnership with Winnipeg engineering group, Kor Ecologic. The engineering group is creating one of the world's most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. Code-named, Urbee, it is the first car ever to have its entire body 3D printed by additive manufacturing processes.

The electric / liquid-fuel hybrid reaches more than 200 mpg, highway and 100 mpg, city in U.S. gallons with either gasoline or ethanol (250 mpg highway /125 mpg city, Imperial gallons).

The car is charged overnight for just pennies from any standard home electrical outlet. Alternately, it can be charged by renewable energy from a windmill or a solar-panel array small enough to fit on top a single-car garage.

For combined city and highway use, the Urbee gets about 150 mpg and costs only 2 cents per mile. This is only about 10 percent of the fuel consumed by a typical SUV. And on the highway, it costs about 1 cent per mile, or 95 percent less than that same SUV.

"Other hybrids on the road today were developed by applying 'green' standards to traditional vehicle formats, says Jim Kor, president and chief technology officer, Kor Ecologic.

"Urbee was designed with environmentally sustainable principles dictating every step of its design.

"Urbee is the only practical car we're aware of that can run solely on renewable energy," says Kor.

"Our goal in designing it was to be as 'green' as possible throughout the design and manufacturing processes. FDM technology from Stratasys has been central to meeting that objective. FDM lets us eliminate tooling, machining, and handwork, and it brings incredible efficiency when a design change is needed. If you can get to a pilot run without any tooling, you have advantages."

Urbee is the first prototype car ever to have its entire body 3D printed with an additive process. All exterior components - including the glass panel prototypes - were created using Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus 3D Production Systems at Stratasys' digital manufacturing service - RedEye on Demand.

The Urbee competed in the 2010 X-Prize Competition, and its development has been chronicled by the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet, for future broadcast

Urbee is just one example of FDM being used for ecologically friendly initiatives. In the UK, Gordon Murray Design, used Fortus 3D Production Systems to help create its avant-garde T.25 city 'eco car,' which was unveiled this July.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Stratasys
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


CAR TECH
GM hopes to raise 13 billion dollars in IPO
New York (AFP) Nov 3, 2010
General Motors on Wednesday said it seeks to raise 13 billion dollars from a new stock offering as part of the auto giant's efforts to break away from government ownership. The initial public offering (IPO), one of the largest in US history, will consist of 365 million shares of common stock, with the estimated price range for the offering of common stock at 26 dollars to 29 dollars per shar ... read more







CAR TECH
Ariane 5 Lofts Dual Birds

Payload Preparations Underway For Fifth Ariane 5 2010 Mission

Sea Launch Company Emerges From Chapter 11

Ariane 5 Rolls Out For Dual Bird Launch

CAR TECH
Mars Rovers Mission Using Cloud Computing

Mars Volcanic Deposit Tells Of Warm And Wet Environment

Opportunity Keeps On Driving To Endeavour Crater

Ancient Mars Was Wet, Cozy And Life Friendly

CAR TECH
New type of moon rock identified

Moon Express Enters $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition

Dead Spacecraft Walking

Surviving Lunar Dangers

CAR TECH
Kuiper Belt Of Many Colors

Reaching The Mid-Mission Milestone On The Way To Pluto

New Horizons Student Dust Counter Instrument Breaks Distance Record

Nitrogen Methane Dominate Icy Surface Of Eris

CAR TECH
e2v To Develop Image Sensors For PLATO Exoplanet Mission

Solar Systems Like Ours May Be Common

Astronomer Greg Laughlin To Talk About Earth-Like Planets

NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized Planets are Common

CAR TECH
Witch's Brew Aids J-2X Engine Hardware Assembly

Initial 30-Day Findings From DM-2 Rocket Engine Program

Commercial spacecraft launch test delayed

DLR Launches 'STERN' Rocket Programme For Students

CAR TECH
China Goes To Mars

China says manned space station possible around 2020

China Kicks Off Manned Space Station Program

NASA chief says pleased with 'comprehensive' China visit

CAR TECH
Cometary Poison Gas Geyser Heralds Surprises

NASA comet fly-by yields rare images from deep space

Epoxi On Final Approach To Comet Hartley 2

EPOXI May Face Multiple Cometary Jets During Hartley 2 Flyby


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement