Prague startup touts 4ekolka, a 3D-printed electric city car

Automaker startup produces prototype for $12,000 and is testing it on Prague’s streets.

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Well, the car did make it up the driveway. A Prague startup is touting
an all-electric city vehicle that can be produced from a 3D printer,
Electrek says, crediting
Czech publication
Hybrid. The company is called 4ekolka, and, as seen in
a one-minute video on
YouTube, founder Petr Chladek was able to start that little thing up and take it up a rather long driveway. There was even an incline.


4ekolka will make a car that will be able to go as far as 124 miles on a full charge. The car will have a 9.6-kilowatt-hour battery, and will have a top speed of about 35 miles per hour. A prototype of the vehicle cost about $12,000 to build, and Chladek is testing it on the streets of Prague. And given the car’s unusual appearance – it’s a two-toned vehicle topped by a glass bubble thing – he’s probably gotten plenty of interesting looks.


The concept of making a car with 3D-printed parts is getting less and less far-fetched, actually. Earlier this year,
Daihatsu said it was working with 3D printing company Stratasys and industrial designers from Znug Design to produce body panels for the Daihatsu Copen two-seat roadster/coupe. The thermoplastic panels will be produced starting next year with Fortus Production 3D Printers.


Then there is Local Motors, which is believed to have produced the world’s first 3D-printed car. The startup unveiled the concept, called the Strati, at last year’s Detroit Auto Show, producing the vehicle with said printers in a scant 44 hours. The company has said deliveries may start as early as the end of 2016 with a starting price of $53,000.


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