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| XEV's new electric car is 3-D printed in just 3 days |
The $7,500 car, called LSEV, only took three days to make according to the creator. All of the components in LSEV were printed except for the chassis, seats and glass.
The two-seater looks a lot like a Smart car, but it isn't quite as fast. Its top speed is about 43 miles per hour. It can travel about 93 miles on a single charge.
A revolutionary electric car made using a 3D printer has been unveiled and is due to start selling next year in Asia and Europe.
The two-seater, called LSEV, takes just three days to make, according to the car's manufacturer.
LSEV is 1.5m (4.9ft) high, 2.5m (8.3ft) long and 1.3m (4.3ft) wide - about the size of a Smart car.
With a weight of 450kg (992 pounds), it has a top speed of 70kmh (43 mph) and can travel 150km (93 miles) once fully charged.
The car is the brainchild of XEV Limited, a start-up firm from Hong Kong which has a design centre in Italy and production bases in China.
Lou Tik, the founder of XEV Limited, told that the majority of the car was 3D-printed with three types of material: enhanced nylon, polylactic acid - a common 3D printing filament - and rubber-like TPU.
All metal parts of the car, such as the chassis and the engine, use the traditional production methods.
A team of around 50 people at XEV designed the car from scratch, developed special 3D printers for it and have produced one prototype. Six more cars would be produced before the end of July, according to Mr Lou.
The Hong Kong-native started on the project two years ago with his Italian co-founder and 3D printing director, Robert Moretti.
The project had an initial £1.7 million (€2million) funding after winning Horizon 2020, EU's biggest programme for research and innovation.
From the very beginning, the team's goal was to make a 3D-printed car that could be sold on the mass market.
The car will be available in Asia and Europe in 2019.