--- title: "This 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle Looks Like Something From “TRON”" description: "## Print \"Motorcycle\"" date: "2019-02-09" modified: "2019-02-09" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/3d-printed-electric-motorcycle-tron" categories: - "3D Printing" - "Future Materials" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "3d printing" - "bigrep" - "motorcycle" - "the digest" --- # This 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle Looks Like Something From “TRON” ![An electric motorcycle called Nera looks like something from a video game — a design made possible by the fact that it's almost 100 percent 3D printed.]() *\Image: BigRep\* ## 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." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4p59wk\_0R4&feature=youtu.be **READ MORE:** [The world’s first 3D-printed electric motorbike]() \[*BBC*\] ***More on motorcycles:*** [*Harley-Davidson’s Electric Motorcycle Will Go on Sale in August*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()