3D Printed Car Could Hit Streets Next Year

LAS VEGAS — The 3D-printed car, a thermoplastic car made one-at-a-time by a machine, could be hitting the streets as soon as next year.

Local Motors, a Chandler, Ariz., company revealed a new design for a lower-speed electric car at the SEMA automotive trade show here last week.

The 3D-printed car, dubbed the LM3D Swim, looks a little like a dune buggy. It is intended as a fun car to cruise neighborhoods, its speed limited by law than no more than 35 miles per hour. It is expected to be followed by a more robust highway version, which will go on sale as soon as late next year at $53,000.

It could be a breakthrough. Its chassis would be "printed" on a machine that shoots out ribbons of carbon-fiber reinforced thermoplastics, much like toothpaste coming out of the tube.

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