Introducing the brand new, first-ever 3D Printed Hypercar ever made… The Czinger 21C! (pronounced ‘zinger’) The Czinger comes courtesy of its owners and manufacturers, Kevin and Adam Czinger. A father-son team hailing from California. The car was created in their Los Angeles facility with one goal in mind. To revolutionize the automotive industry by setting a precedent on how vehicles across the spectrum are designed and manufactured.
The 21C is not their first attempt though, in 2015, they showed the Blade. The Blade was branded under Divergent which has since become the larger company under which the Czinger operates and manufactures its cars as its manufacturing subsidiary.
The top speed of the 21C is above 280 mph and is enhanced by wheels with carbon-fiber barrels and a few plies of padded carbon fiber that suffice as seats. Curb weight is claimed to be about 2,900 pounds. However, top speed is not and was never the objective here for the Czinger men. The methods and techniques used in creating the 21C are what is foremost to Divergent.
C21 Engine Fully 3D printed C21 Frontal Czinger C21 Combination of hard and soft printing materials make up the honeycomb design on the C21
The AI And DAPs
The state of car manufacturing today is pretty mundane. They are produced using rigorous methods that take time and very many man-hours. These methods are decades old and involve assembly lines, huge machinery, copious square meters of floor space, machines, and people just to bring it all together. The DAPs methodology is something completely and utterly different. In fact, it very well could change and revolutionize the automotive industry altogether. Think ‘letter writing and Emails’ today. (DAPs stands for Divergent Adaptive Processing System). With an emphasis of over 500 patents just on the ‘A’ alone. The system uses 3D printing technology to create its hypercar.
Central to this strategy is Czinger’s use of a proprietary production system that enables flexible, on-demand production. Almost all of the metal components—aluminum, titanium, and Inconel (a heat-resistant material originally developed for use in the aerospace industry)—are 3D-printed while composite body parts are formed in molds, and instead of mating components together on a traditional assembly line, everything is done by robots in one central location. This means the Czinger factory, located in Los Angeles, doesn’t need to be reconfigured for different models, only the software controlling it all needs to be changed. That saves a tonne of time and resources when it comes to auto-building and manufacturing. This very well heralds the start of something never before seen in the automotive industry. The Czingers have also admitted to recently being propositioned by big car companies to create parts for their projects, that defy usual weight constraints that are prominent in traditional car-building techniques.
Czinger does plan to follow up the 21C with multiple models, all of them performance-oriented. The downside is that the production process isn’t geared up for volume manufacturing. Meaning, for instance, the 21C will have only 80 units made, each priced from $1.7 million and will take about 3,000 hours to complete.
Because of the possibilities afforded by 3D printing, each component is computationally engineered and optimized for weight, efficiency, and performance. It means no more material is used than what is actually needed to meet Czinger’s performance targets, resulting in parts that look almost organic in structure.
A fantastic feat for auto engineering. The Czingers have been pre-ordered and set for production to be delivered in 2023. We’d be keeping our eyes peeled for the roadworthy versions of the C21 as we continue to look to the Divergent auto company for more mind-blowing 3D engineering. We cannot wait to see future Divergent projects and we know the Czinger’s will not disappoint.
