Before we cared about climate change and not causing the earth to overheat, the automotive industry was fixated on creating concepts that pushed the boundaries of what’s possible on four wheels. Some manufacturers previewed future production models or provided a glimpse of a brand new model, but mostly they were presented just for the sake of making news. Today, concept cars are not just billed as mere design studies, but are an indication of a direction automakers plan to take in the years ahead.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen everything from ahyper-class sports car, an electric SUV brimming with tech features, to a revolutionary van that includes drool-inducing concepts. Keep reading as You & I tells you about one concept car that are on the way over the next few years.
What It Is
A hit at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Divergent 3D Blade is just what the name implies: it’s a supercar built on a carbon fibre tubular chassis with aluminium NODES –3D printed joints – and provides a disruptive new approach to auto manufacturing.
Why We Want It
It’s fair to say that the Divergent 3D Blade was one of the biggest surprises dropped on the motoring press this year. Made by California–based start-up Divergent Microfactories – founded by Kevin Czinger – the platform aims to make it easier and faster to design new cars by reducing the cost, time-to-market, and the environmental impact that traditional factories have.
Since the world’s first 3D printed supercar is coupled with the use of carbon fibre rather than aluminium or steel, it reduces the chassis weight by 90% compared to an average car, and requires far less energy and material to produce. As a result, the whole vehicle weighs just 1,388 pounds. It also comes with a stroked
2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine and carries a 700 HP engine that runs on compressed natural gas – making it one of the most environment-friendly automobiles around. “A far greater percentage of a car’s total emissions come from the materials and energy required to manufacture it. How we make cars is actually a much bigger problem than how we fuel our cars. But, we’ve found a way to make automobiles that holds the promise of radically reducing the resource use and pollution generated by manufacturing,” Czinger explained at a speech at the
O’Reilly Solid Conference. “It also holds the promise of making large-scale car manufacturing affordable for small teams of innovators. And as Blade proves, we’ve done it without sacrificing style or substance,” he explained.
Estimated Arrival and Price
The announcement media kit doesn’t include a timeframe or pricing.