Local Motors 3-D prints its second car even faster than the first

Local Motors, the company that 3-D printed and assembled a drivable car in just five days, is at it again — this time with one less day and with several more ambitious plans for 2015.

The company had five people printing, shaping and assembling another Strati model in just four days at the 2014 Specialty Equipment Market Association convention in Las Vegas early this month.

Down to five workers from 12 at Chicago's International Manufacturing Technology Show in September, Local Motors printed the Strati's body in 44 hours and assembled it in about two days. The Strati sailed 3 miles through the streets of Las Vegas, Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers said.

“Our goal is to get [production] down to two people,” he said.

The company's plans underscore the growing interest in 3-D manufacturing technology in the auto industry. Automakers and suppliers increasingly are relying on 3-D printing to shorten product development cycles, cut prototype costs, reduce mechanical failures and test new ways of raising fuel efficiency. Now the allure of manufacturing entire vehicles is beginning to take shape.

Next on Local Motors' to-do list?

A design competition called the ModMen Challenge. The company is inviting “anyone who has a dream and wants to show the world what they want to do with a cool, innovative car” to submit entries for a car that will be printed and assembled at SEMA 2015, said Justin Fishkin, Local Motors chief strategy officer.

Participants can submit design ideas online in any medium they choose: a drawing, a model or a concept built on Local Motors' website platform.

The consumer is an integral part of production, and a cornerstone of Local Motors' strategy, Fishkin said.

“The community of designers and manufacturers are the soul of innovation,” he said.

Starting at the end of January, participants can enter the contest by submitting design modification proposals.

After voting ends in March, Local Motors will send 12 winners a 3-D printed car so that they can bring their designs to life.

The winners will “learn what the car is made of, literally and figuratively,” Rogers said.

All 12 selected will show their modified cars to judges at SEMA in November 2015, with one winning an unannounced grand prize. But the main prize that all 12 will win is the car they designed.

Local Motors may use selected ModMen Challenge entries as inspiration for models of 3-D printed cars designed for the road. The 12 finalists will be part of the company's alpha program, the first set of “early adopters,” to get the cars on the road.

In mid-2015, Local Motors will launch a beta program, in which customers will be able to visit the microfactory to design and build their own cars. As long as they get a license plate and register the car as a specially constructed vehicle in one state, they will be able to legally drive it in all 50 states, Rogers said.

The company also plans to build another 3-D car — a model different from the Strati — at the Detroit auto show in January.

Local Motors wants to focus on skepticism and present crash-test data in Detroit, Rogers said.

The company plans to launch the first line of highway-ready, 3-D printed vehicles in late 2015, pending regulatory approval.