In an event at the China 3D-Printing Cultural Museum in Shanghai, the two companies displayed their proof-of-concept LSEV, which they said could be a “milestone product” in the adoption of 3D printing technology into mainstream production.
Commenting on the product, Luo Xiaofan, the co-founder and CEO of Polymaker, said the vehicle was the first “real” mass production project using 3D printing.
“By saying real, I mean there are also lots of other companies using 3D printing for production. But nothing can really compare with XEV in terms of the size, the scale, and the intensity,” explained Luo Xiaofan.
The target of the project, according to XEV CEO, Stanley Lu, is to design a small electric vehicle that can achieve C2M (Customer-to-Manufacturer) manufacturing.
“To fulfil this target, it requires mass customisation production, fast and cost-effective R&D, and the ability to produce lighter-weight parts that could lead to greater fuel efficiency,” explained Stanley.
And that is when3D printing technology became the only way to realise it, he added.
Polymaker was chosen as the strategic partner and helped XEV both in terms of material solutions and post-processing options, as part of which it developed a number of engineering plastics for XEV.
As a result of the cooperation, XEV has decreased the plastic parts and number of components in a car from more than 2,000 to 57, and the finished LSEV weighs only 450 kilograms, much lower than similar sized vehicles, which usually come to between 1 and 1.2 tonnes.
Apart from the chassis, seats and glass, all the visible parts of the car are 3D printed using proprietary Polymaker materials.
“This switch of production leads to more than 70% reduction of the investment cost in comparison with a traditional production system,” the two companies said.
XEV has reportedly already received several thousands of orders from Europe, some 5,000 of which are said to come from Poste Italiane.
XEV hopes to start production in the second quarter of 2019.
While conventionally the R&D process of a car model takes about 3-5 years, XEV said it only takes it 3-12 months to finish a new design.
Polymaker has also come up with solutions to help with surface treatments and colour.