APWorks unveils 3D printed electric motorcycle crafted from minuscule aluminium alloy particles

Airbus, the global leader in civil aircraft manufacturing, has made a decidedly different kind of vehicle: a 3D printed motorcycl with a frame made from melted minuscule aluminium alloy particles.

Created by Airbus subsidiary APWorks, the vehicle weighs in at just 35kg and is powered by a six kilowatt electric engine that helps it go from zero to 80km/h in a few seconds. The frame itself has been made using a “selective 3D laser printing system” that melted minuscule aluminium alloy particles together. The end product is a series of parts made up of a lot of 60-microns thin layers.

APWorks used an algorithm to develop the Light Rider’s optimised structure to keep weight at a minimum while ensuring the motorcycle’s frame was strong enough to handle the weight loads and stresses of everyday driving scenarios. The result: a motorcycle that looks more like an organic exoskeleton than a machine. That was a very deliberate design goal for APWorks, which programmed the algorithm to use bionic structures and natural growth processes and patterns as the basis for developing a strong but lightweight structure.

According to the company, Light Rider is the world’s very first 3D printed motorcycle. The say, there are only 50 planned for production as of now. The aluminium alloy-frame motorcycles come in at the fairly steep price of €50,000 ($77,738) plus tax.