BERLIN — What weighs 77 pounds, goes 50 mph and looks like a Swiss cheese on wheels?
An electric motorcycle made from tiny aluminum alloy particles using a 3D printer.
European aeronautics giant Airbus unveiled the “Light Rider”’ in Germany on Friday. Manufactured by its subsidiary APWorks, a specialist in additive layer manufacturing, the motorcycle uses hollow frame parts that contain the cables and pipes.
The frame weighs just 13 pounds, about 30 percent less than conventional e-motorbikes.
APWorks chief executive Joachim Zettler said the complex, branched hollow structure wouldn’t have been possible with conventional production technologies such as milling or welding.
The company is taking orders for a limited run of 50 motorbikes, costing $56,095, plus tax, each.
They’ll have a range of 37 miles.