Stuff - UK (2020-04)

(Antfer) #1
Woah, is that a prop from an
upcoming Ridley Scott movie?
No, but you are looking at a very
futuristic hypercar. LA-based tech
firm Czinger was founded off the
back of Divergent 3D, a company
that specialises in advanced
additive manufacturing techniques
and the next generation of robotic
assembly systems.

So... they 3D-printed a car?
Well, what better way to showcase
this new ability to achieve true
‘generative design’ than by creating

Czinger 21C


PRINTS & THE REVOLUTION


$1,700,000 / czinger.com


a hypercar with the looks and
performance to take on the best?
When we asked CEO and founder
Kevin Czinger why he decided to
build a car, he responded: “Because
they’re awesome, man. They’re
what the planet is built around.
Look outside: parking lots, streets,
the entire structure of the modern
world is built around the car.”

And what does ‘generative design’
actually mean?
According to Kevin, his new method
of designing, 3D-printing and

rapidly assembling his vehicle
is “the antithesis of today’s car
production methods”. In short,
most mass-produced vehicles
require special tooling that can’t
be altered. Czinger’s tech allows
a designer’s creative ideas to be
expressed digitally then physically
in a very short space of time.

Are there any off-the-shelf parts?
Not really, besides the brakes. Even
the engine and hybrid powertrain
have been developed in-house.
The beauty of the 3D-printed

chassis (and most of the car) is
that it can be rapidly tweaked and
adjusted over time – or at least
until the lead engineers are happy.

Seems like a lot of effort...
True, but Kevin Czinger is a car nut
as well as a tech genius. The 21C
weighs just 1090kg in its lightest
guise, but packs 1250hp from
a twin-turbo 2.9-litre V8 engine
and 220kW electric motors at the
front wheels. The team is made up
of former Tesla and Koenigsegg
folk... and rocket scientists, which

WHE EL S

Free download pdf