Local Motors LM3D Swim
Local Motors has unveiled the LM3D Swim, its latest rapid 3D vehicle design leading to a safe, smart, sustainable and fully road-ready 3D-printed vehicle.
Local Motors, which successfully produced the world’s first 3D-printed car, the Strati, last year, is now moving into intensive testing and development phases that will lead to with a fully homologated series of cars built using direct digital manufacturing.
The vehicle was created with software developed by Siemens, including Solid Edge and materials from SABIC, a world leader in thermoplastic material solutions. Debuting at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, the LM3D Swim was designed by Kevin Lo, a Local Motors community member who won the company’s Project Redacted challenge in July.
“In the past few months our engineers have moved from only a rendering to the car you see in front of you today,” Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers commented at SEMA. “We are using the power of DDM to create new vehicles at a pace unparalleled in the auto industry, and we’re thrilled to begin taking orders on 3D-printed cars next year.”
Cutting-edge technology will be integrated into all models in the LM3D series. Local Motors recently partnered with IBM to create interactions between the microfactory, 3D-printed vehicles, their drivers and the outside environment in ways never achieved before. These technologies will result in increased safety and efficiency in traffic. Local Motors also plans to develop and launch a series of apps and vehicle products with partners to monitor and optimise the driving experience.
While presales of the cars are expected to begin in spring 2016 with a targeted MSRP of $53,000, manufacturing and delivery of the vehicles are expected in early 2017. All cars in the LM3D series will be built at a new Local Motors microfactory now under construction in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is slated for completion by the end of 2015.
