Polymaker, XEV Debut 3D Printed Electric Car

Shanghai-based 3D printing material provider Polymaker is working with Italian electric vehicle manufacturer XEV on a mass producible, 3D-printed electric vehicle (EV). The two companies put the vehicle on display at the China 3D-Printing Cultural Museum in March.

The LSEV weighs just 450kg (993 pounds), and every visible part of the vehicle is printed except for the chassis, seats and glass. According to the company, this has reduced the cost of the vehicle by 70% – multiple reports about the vehicle put its price below $10,000. XEV can also complete the research and development process for a new design in three to 12 months, compared to the typical three to five years required for vehicle R&D using traditional manufacturing methods.

“XEV is the first real mass production project using 3D printing. By saying real, I mean there are also lots of other companies using 3D printing for production. But nothing can really compare with XEV in terms of the size, the scale, and the intensity,” said, Dr. Luo Xiaofan, the co-founder and CEO of Polymaker.

Polymaker says it designed new engineering plastics for XEV to create the vehicle, as well as new solutions for surface treatment and color. XEV has reduced the number of plastic parts and vehicle components from 2,000 down to 57.

XEV has reportedly already received more than 7,000 orders from Europe, with 5,000 of those coming from Poste Italiane. The remaining orders are from vehicle leasing company AARVAL.

XEV plans to start mass production of the vehicles in 2019.

Source: Polymaker