TOKYO -- When Toyota Motor took its new ultracompact three-wheeled electric vehicle for a test spin on the streets of Tokyo recently, it was to offer the public a glimpse of its vision of the future -- both in the way people travel in cities and how products are made.
What sets the i-Road apart from other vehicles, aside from its specs, is that it will not be churned out en masse on a typical assembly line, but on-demand using 3-D printers. The idea is to give buyers the freedom of customizing their vehicles. Using a 3-D printer means the carmaker can tweak colors and shapes unit by unit. Someone wants wood-grain paneling? Fire up the printer.
Image: http://asia.nikkei.com/
