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The BICAR with inventors Hans-Jörg Dennig (left) and Adrian Burri (right) (Credit: Share your BICAR AG)
A Swiss company focused on creating sustainable electric vehicles has unveiled how it is using large-format 3D printing to help build its emission-free, single-seater driving solution for cities.
The BICAR, a product of Share your BICAR AG, a spin-off from a project at the Zurich University of Applied Science, is poised to offer a more sustainable alternative for urban mobility. The quirky three-wheeler is driven by a solar powered battery and intended for short distance travel as well as sharing or business fleets. BICAR is completely weather protected and allows drivers to ride without the need for a helmet at speeds of up to 45 km/hr (just under 30 mph).
Since January, development partner and consultant, ZHAW's School of Engineering has been using a German RepRap x1000 3D printer to produce both prototypes and functional parts for customisation and lightweighting. The machine employs a plastic extrusion-based process for a wide range of materials and offers a sizeable build volume of 1000 x 800 x 600 mm allowing large plastic components to be produced in a single print job.
Commenting on the benefits of using 3D printing for this project, Adrian Burri, Managing Director of Share your BICAR AG said: "With traditional processes, components with complex structures and bionic shapes, as shown on the BICAR, are usually very difficult or even impossible.” Having a machine in-house is said to have sped up the production process and lowered costs by allowing designers to develop completely new approaches in terms of design and function.
The most recent iteration of the BICAR will be produced in Switzerland and is said to be implemented across select cities including Winterthur, Baden and Basel from this month.
