This 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle Looks Like Something From "TRON"

Even the tires are 3D printed.

Print "Motorcycle"

A new BBC video shows an electric motorcycle called the Nera that looks like something from a stylized video game — a "TRON"-like design made possible by the fact that it's almost 100 percent 3D printed, down to the airless tires.

"The idea was to demonstrate to designers and engineers and architects and the general consumer what 3D printing was all about," said Stephan Beyer, the CEO of Nera maker BigRep. "Historically, engineers and designers have been limited with manufacturing technologies like grinding and molding."

"TRON" Bike

Though you can't buy it yet, the BBC says the Nera is expected to cost about £2,000 ($2,600.)

The BBC claims the Nera is the world's first 3D printed electric motorcycle — though, to be fair, a separate project called the Light Rider appears to have come first.

Bike Hack

Still, the Nera is an extraordinarily bold design, with futuristic angles and polygons that look too sharp for the staid world of automotive design. Beyers credits those bold choices with the possibilities opened up by 3D printing.

"The nice thing with 3D printing is that you can swipe those limitations away and you can create objects that have completely new capabilities, follow completely new sets of designs," he told the BBC. "For instance, with the outer hull of the bike, that follows a design that we created that you would typically not be able to bring to life with a traditional bike."

 

READ MORE: The world’s first 3D-printed electric motorbike [BBC]

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