An Eden Prairie company has helped build a prototype of futuristic gas-electric hybrid car that gets better than 200 mpg.
Stratasys, which manufactures 3D printers and rapid-prototyping systems, printed all of the exterior components for Urbee, an ultra-green vehicle being developed by a Winnipeg engineer group called Kor Ecologic.
The car is the first to have its entire body created by a 3D printing process. The companies are showing off the prototype in Las Vegas this week at the
2010 SEMA Show, an annual automotive trade show.
Urbee aims to be one of the world's greenest and most fuel-efficient vehicles. The hybrid vehicle reaches better than 200 mpg highway and 100 mpg city. It runs on electricity and either gasoline or ethanol.
Jim Kor, president and chief technology officer for Kor Ecologic, said in a press release that Stratasys' technology made the design and prototyping process more efficient by eliminating tooling and machining steps.
Statasys is a public company with about 360 full-time employees. Its machines are used by designers and engineers in the aerospace, automotive, medical device and consumer product industries.
The company's technology was also used to help create another experimental green car, the
T.25 City Car, which was unveiled in July.
Source: Joe Hiemenz, Stratasys
Writer:
Dan Haugen