Hasta La Gadget!

3D printing has grown in popularity partially because 3D printers have become inexpensive in recent years but also because of how easy it can be to put in raw materials like wood or metal, turn on the “printer” that cuts the pieces or entire product you need out of the material, and come out with a working mechanical device that requires minimal assembly to function. One enterprising design group, led by Stratasys and Kor Ecologic, wanted to use the technology to build a fully-functional automobile that would qualify for the 2010 Automotive X-Prize Competition.

The result is the Urbee, an almost entirely-printed vehicle with a hybrid gasoline/ethanol engine under the hood that’s lightweight and can get up to 200 miles per gallon. The key to the Urbee’s design is how easy it is to replicate and produce, and how light the frame is. By eliminating the heavy materials and tooling, you get a lightweight vehicle that’s efficient on the road.

It’s unlikely the bubble-shaped Urbee will ever make it to the open road: its futuristic design is a little off-putting and it’s unlikely the lightweight chassis is really road-legal and terribly safe, but Stratasys and Kor Ecologic may be on to something by using 3D printing for manufacturing lightweight and efficient vehicles.

[via Inhabitat]

Religion tolerance is a powerful force–so is the lure of fabulous prizes. A car dealer in New Jersey made controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones an offer he apparently couldn’t refuse. In a radio spot for his dealership, Brad Benson offered Jones a new car if he went back on his plans to burn a Quran on the anniversary of the September 11th attack.

After much protest, Jones eventually canceled his controversial protest, stating, “We will definitely not burn the Quran… Not today, not ever.”

And now he wants his car.

A representative for the church called a surprised Benson, asking after the vehicle. “They said unless I was doing false advertising, they would like to arrange to pick up the car,” Benson to the Associated Press. Benson chalked the whole thing up to a joke, asking Jones to fax a copy of his license.

It wasn’t a joke.

Jones, it seems, actually had some fairly noble plans for the 2011 Hyundai Accent. “We are not trying to profit from this. We are not keeping the car for ourselves,” the pastor said in an interview. Instead, he plans to donate to a charity benefiting abused Muslim women.

Jones will ultimately have to go to the South Brunswick dealership to pick up the $14,200 car–he’ll have to sign all of the appropriate paperwork first.

On Saturday, when I filed a story about Google’s driverless car, I emailed Google for more information, including pictures and perhaps even a ride. I received a response on Monday, well after Google gave The New York Times the backstory.

On Monday, I asked Google for more pictures, which they graciously provided. I also asked for a ridealong. I figured after covering technology for about fifteen years, I might be able to ask them an insightful question or two. Perhaps even test it a bit. Newp. I was told it wasn’t going to happen.

Fair enough – I can understand that liability might play a role. But no – they handed that one off to Becky Worley of Good Morning America. Sure, Worley has some cred as a security reporter for TechTV. But it won’t stop me from grumbling.

With Chevrolet Volts in the hands of the media this week for preview drives, it looks like range in electric-only mode is on the order of 30 to 35 miles before the gasoline “range extender” engine kicks in. Previously, GM talked about ranges of 40 miles, forty-ish miles, and most recently a range of 25-50 miles. It also turns out that gasoline fuel economy isn’t so special, either.