This 3D printed electric drive housing is lighter, stiffer and easier to cool
Porsche is big into 3D printing at the moment. It’s already producing parts for its inventory of classic cars using an ‘additive laser fusion process’ and has tested 3D printed seats and pistons – both of which offer massive improvements over their standard siblings.
Whilst the process might not be ready to mass produce items just yet, there’s still plenty of room for testing. The latest Porsche-printed item, then, is a complete housing for an electric drive unit.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Bear with us though, because Porsche has found that using this additive manufacturing process allows the honeycomb-like aluminium housing to be 100 per cent stiffer, 10 per cent lighter and still more compact than a conventionally cast part. Impressive.
