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| If low weight electric bikes have been built, are electric cars far behind ? |
World's first 3D printed bike "Light Rider", from Airbus co. AP Works. Germany, comes with a 6 KW electric motor.
It has a max speed of 80 kmph, 0-45 in 3 sec flat. Frame weighs just 6 kg, made of Magnesium, Aluminium Scandium (Scalm) alloy.. The bike weighs 35 kg overall and travels 60 km on a full charge ..
Present cost $50,000 and we can expect as the sales volume and research n this increases, the cost will drop like it happened in the case of microprocessor chips, robots etc..
This development, though technically brilliant, riases a more serious and ethical question.. The world's largest industry is car manufacturing. With the arrival of 3D printing in cars too, in the next two years max, are we saying bye to an industry which ruled the world for about 136 years from the 1880s ..
George ....
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