3-D-printed car could hit streets next year

LAS VEGAS — The 3-D-printed car, a thermoplastic car made one at a time by a machine, could be hitting the streets as soon as next year.

Local Motors, a Chandler, Ariz., company revealed a new design for a lower-speed electric car at the SEMA automotive trade show here last week.

The 3-D-printed car, dubbed the LM3D Swim, looks a little like a dune buggy. It is intended as a fun car to cruise neighborhoods, its speed limited by law to no more than 35 miles per hour. It is expected to be followed by a more robust highway version, which will go on sale as soon as late next year at $53,000.

It could be a breakthrough. Its chassis would be "printed" on a machine that shoots out ribbons of carbon-fiber reinforced thermoplastics, much like toothpaste coming out of the tube.

Having previously shown cars to prove the concept, Local Motors CEO Jay  Rogers says the company is now ready to start making cars for the masses.

He is seeking to open additional plants in Knoxville, Tenn., and the National Harbor section of Prince George's County, Md.

The design of the Swim came in a competition of 60 designs. The winner was a Stanford University graduate, Kevin Lo, who did it in his spare time.

"I didn't know how to design cars," he acknowledges. Most of the other entries were SUVs. "I wanted to do something more classic and more basic," he says.

Chris Woodyard on Twitter: @ChrisWoodyard.