Urbee, the world’s most futuristically manufactured car
By Aryan Safavi
Jim Kor, the project leader of Kor EcoLogic, described the manufacturing as “an additive process, building the part essentially one ‘molecule’ of material at a time, ultimately with no waste”. Traditional subtractive manufacturing involves shaving away or moulding blocks of raw metal to make engineered components, thus a process removing this waste is economically desirable. Also stockpiling components and then transporting them across seas may prove far less cost effective than using a 3D printer to simply print the part required as the designs are stored in virtual computer warehouses.
The eminent designers of this distinctive project insist that it is not just an experiment, as they intend the car to go on sale 2014. With extremely low fuel consumption and an estimated £10,000-£33,000 price tag, providing that the engineers assault the challenging development of the mass manufacturing process with sufficient intellectual vigour and investor backing, the Urbee car can revolutionise the automotive industry.