Yep! They can make some really big things now using gantry and table systems. You sacrifice resolution, but you can easily build something as large as a car. Arguably the largest build volume was 5' x 10' x as long as you can support it.

This was done on a BAAM machine.
https://www.e-ci.com/baam

thats amazing

And all 3D printed plastic. This might be your "Car of the Future" one day.

Oh very cool!!

Yes, it is all plastic. On this scale, it is about the only class of material you can use.

Power moving it on the convention floor was two guys pushing. However, based upon past works where people have driven 3D printed cars off the printer, I would not be surprised if it has limited drivability. If they added metal printed parts for the engine block, pistons, exhaust and other hot parts and maybe the drive train, it may be quite driveable.

It actually leads to some interesting possibilities. Can't afford a real (fill in the blank with your favorite car here)? Print off a copy.:)

And with the right program, you could design your own vehicle. (Hopefully better than Homer Simpson did.)

There are many potential applications for the future. Customization is probably the biggest. You can, for example, modify a Shelby Cobra body to fit a much less costly compact car and have a service bureau print it. Do the hard work of finishing and installing it, and you have a Poor Man's Cobra.

The other big use, touted by Lowes (Yes, that Lowes. They are big in 3D printing for good reason.), is to have CAD drawings of all the stuff that they carry "just in case" and 3D scanners for "What the heck is that?" broken parts and print one-off replacement parts. You can replace 50,000 square feet of storage with 500 square feet of printer and scanner. They did this without advertising it, and they had people coming from three states over to use the service.

I would say that the two biggest trends I saw at the conference were a shift from prototyping to production and increased speed to manufacture parts in more reasonable times. If that continues, you may drop off a job at Lowes in the morning and pick up your part that evening within five years.

I was thinking maybe emergency housing printed on site. Probably not feasible now, but in the future? Instead of hauling in tons of tents, just a few mobile printers and people have a weather tight and vermin proof place to stay after an earthquake, fire, whatever. Endless possibilities.

MIT has a unit using a crane and pumped cement that can create a 50' diameter dome in about 14 hours. One potential use is emergency shelters after a disaster. Several others are working on 3D printed housing.

However, you still have to haul in the supplies. Cement, for example, requires an operating cement plant. That may not be available.

Hard to tell. I can say that two medium build men had no trouble pushing the car through the convention center while a third steered.

If I did a fully optimized design, I would assume that the printed version would be much lighter as I could lightweight things like struts to remove unnecessary material. I can also change from metal to high-strength plastics.