Bentley believes it can widen the scope of applications of 3D printing solutions in the automotive industry.
The British carmaker has already invested £3,000,000 into improving the technology and hopes to be able to use it later to make custom car parts and accessories, not just spare parts. If successful, the initiative would be a step forward to the implementation of the Bentley Beyond100 strategy, which envisions carbon-neutral production and a switch to all-electric powertrains.
Evolution of additive printing technologies enabled the automaker to boost its 3D printing volumes to over 15,000 parts last year. At this moment, the company limits the applicability scope for this manufacturing method to work tools, mounting hardware and some prototype parts. For example, engineers might print out a certain part to see how efficient it would be in a wind tunnel.
Peter Bosch, one of Bentley executives, believes additive printing can help cut costs and simplify many production processes. Moving forward, Bentley will be offering 3D printed accessories for its cars, although all details remain to be announced.