RedEye On Demand and Stratasys have been selected by Winnipeg-based KOR Ecologic to build the first 3D-printed, production-ready car called Urbee. Photo: Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT
Jim Kor doesn't like to hang around people.

Yet this engineer is out to change the world. His Urbee is a special hybrid car. It mostly runs on electricity. ###### It is plastic and is made using an advanced 3-D printer.

The Urbee can also zip across the entire country on 10 gallons of fuel. That's less than what it would take a minivan to get from Boston to New York.

"We want to make the greenest car on Earth," said Kor. ###### A Plastic Car Inspired By Nature

Kor took the idea for his new car from nature. The Urbee needed to be light and strong like a falcon and fast like a cheetah. But making this happen took a special 3-D printing technology. It was strong and fast, but didn't weigh very much.

###### They built the car's body in a 3-D printing factory in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Computers read the design software and "printed" each car part piece by piece. A plastic bumper was born. Then a hood, and other parts. Even though 3-D printing has been used to make gears, grilles and tools by other car makers, it had never been used to build the entire body of a car.

###### The Urbee uses eight times less energy than the average little car," Kor said. Urbee's Parts Are Quick To Print

It usually takes years to create a model for a new car. You have to change designs, tools, and materials for any little adjustment you want to make. With 3-D printing, designers can change details on a computer and click the Print button.

###### They were given two electric motors and a small ethanol engine. Today, the two-seater, three-wheeled Urbee is on tour. It's in England this month. Science and car lovers are going ga-ga over the vehicle.

###### I'd like to license two-and-a-half billion Urbees," Kor said with a laugh. The goal is to sell each Urbee for about $16,000. Kor says we need an environment-friendly car like this. But he says it has to be low-priced and affordable.

###### The version of the Urbee can drive 70 miles on a gallon of fuel. The Urbee 2 will get 120 to 290 miles per gallon. Just The Beginning For 3-D Printing

But Kor first needs $3 million to make the drawings real. Fundraising started Oct. 30. ###### A cross-country drive from New York to San Francisco is scheduled for 2015. On board will be Kor, his son and dog.

"We'll start with a half-scale model car in 2014. Once we have that tested, we are only a month away from making the full-scale model," Kor said. ######

The Urbee is one of the things to come out of of the 3-D printing revolution. Twenty years ago, 3-D plastic "printing" was a garage hobby. Now it's a $2.2 billion business. General Electric, General Motors, UPS and others use it every day.]]>