The Urbee Becomes the Future of the Auto Revolution

Move over Henry Ford – usher in the 3-D car and the new revolution of the automobile industry – and meet the Urbee.

The Urbee , a “runabout” plastic vehicle with a hybrid engine, has three wheels and the ability to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour; the ten-foot car can carry up to twelve-hundred pounds, and is environmentally sound from the workshop to the road. The brain behind the Urbee is engineer Jim Kor and his team at KOR EcoLogic. The team’s prowess for this visionary vehicle shows “that anything really is possible” and the Urbee is poised to change how the world approaches manufacturing, according to Jim Baretel, Stratasys (News - Alert) vice president of RedEye On Demand. The car takes about three months to be printed and assembled.

“A future where 3-D printers build cars may not be far off after all,” added Bartel. Kors first unveiled the Urbee printed prototype in 2011 at the TEDx conference with the hopes of having a “street-ready” model on the market within a few years. That same year, Urbee’s 3-D car body earned its way into the World’s Top 10 Innovative Transportation Companies list.

Urbee is designed to be environmentally sustainable because it can efficiently store and use exactly the amount of solar and wind energy a driver can collect in a one-car garage in one day. If one wants to travel farther in a given day, the ethanol powered engine is used.

On HybridCars.com, Philippe Crowe writes that The KOR EcoLogic team will fully design the latest iteration, the Urbee 2, in CAD files, sending them to RedEye On Demand for building through Stratasys’ Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process. This unique process applies thermoplastics in layers from the bottom up, yielding parts that the company say is durable, precise and repeatable. SmartPlanet.com says the Urbee’s molded exterior is composed of tough, impact resistant ABS (News - Alert) plastic that is much lighter than metal. And when combined with a race-car roll cage and printed shock-absorbing parts placed between the exterior body and internal chassis, the little three-wheeled two-seater should be as safe for NASCAR competitors as it is for everyday commuters.

What drove Kor to develop the Urbee? Simple -- his commitment to the environment and passion to give people the opportunity “to own and drive a clean, energy, efficient car,” Kor told Stratasys, and to create the world’s fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicle. Also underscoring Kor’s consciousness for the environment is making the Urbee as “green” as possible throughout the design and manufacturing process. Kor Ecologic’s motto says it all – “when we design a product, we try to make the design fit our idea of a the way things should be.”

 Kor’s product had several fundamental guiding principles, and that vision was written out and posted on the walks of their shop – use the least amount of energy possible for every mile traveled; cause as little pollution as possible during manufacturing, operation and recycling; be simple to understand, build and repair; and be affordable.

Zeitnews says the Urbee already has 14 orders at $50,000 each. Kor encourages people who are interested in seeing his team develop more Urbees to donate on Urbee.net.