The ultimate home-car-energy hook-up – made with a printer

We all know there are some exciting possibilities just around the corner with energy, homes and cars – however, an all-star working group of top scientists and experts has decided to make them a reality in the here and now.

The US Department of Energy brought university and industry experts together with the brief to throw away the rule book and design an all-new approach to housing, power and transport. A year later the team reveal AMIE – a working hybrid car and high-spec off-grid home all created with a 3D printer.

The home is powered by ultra-thin solar panels that charge the car when it’s parked over a wireless charging pad. Cleverly, the vehicle acts as mobile energy storage and is able to top up the home when it needs more energy – or vice versa, depending on what the system’s smart sensors decide is needed.

The architecture firm involved in the project, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, claimed it could usher in an era of “zero-waste construction, reduced material consumption and buildings that can be ground up and reprinted for new forms and uses.”

Watch a video on the project here.