Students at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have built a solar-powered electric car with a 3-D-printed body.

Designed from scratch, the NTU Venture 8 is mounted on a carbon fiber single shell chassis and took over a year to build.

Uisng the very latest engineering techniques, the vehicle has incorporated a series of innovations such as silicon solar cells that can be con-toured to follow the car's shape.

"We are extremely proud to have designed and assembled a 3-D-printed body shell for the electric car," said Ng HeongWah, an associate professor at the university.

"The 3-D printed car body is pushing existing technology to the limits and we are so pleased that it has paid off."

The main body of the car is made from lightweight plastic and has been designed to maximize internal space and driver comfort while still being able to keep the weight to a minimum.

Despite being an urban concept car, it can reach a top speed of 60 km/h, while maintaining low energy consumption, say its designers. The students will take the NTUVenture 8 to participate in the Shell Eco-marathon Asia competition this year, under the Urban Concept category. Teams with road-worthy fuel-efficient vehicles fall into this category.

The students, meanwhile, have also built the NTU Venture 9, a three-wheeled racer which can "take sharp corners with little loss in speed" due to a unique tilting ability inspired by motorcycle racing, the university said. It features hand-made silicon solar cells and will take part in the prototype category at the Shell competition.