Tesla Model Y Cracked Casting
Henry Gallagher
Base specification Giga Press machines were included in Idra's catalogue in 2018.[4] Tesla began using a custom OL 6100 CS Giga Press in late-2020 for integrated die-casting production of chassis parts for the Tesla Model Y.[5]
At the beginning of each casting cycle robots spray 35 millilitres (1.2 imp fl oz; 1.2 US fl oz) of soybean oil in a thin layer inside each half of the mold to allow separation. The mold is closed, and a low vacuum of 50 millibars (50 hPa) created by pumping the air out. A precise amount of molten metal is pumped from the holding oven into the casting chamber at 750 C (1,400 F), and forced into the mold using a high-speed plunger with an additional 8 millilitres (0.28 imp fl oz; 0.27 US fl oz) of lubricant. The mold is opened, and the raw casting removed at 400 C (750 F).[citation needed]
A robot reaches in and removes the casting, placing it in a quenching tank to reduce the temperature from 400 to 50 C (750 to 120 F). A mechanical trim press cuts the approximate edges, recycling excess aluminium into the melting oven. The remaining useful part of the casting is X-rayed to check its internal structure, trimmed by laser, drilled for fittings, and then computer-measured for precision.[7]
In April 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla had purchased the two biggest casting machines in the world to cast the Tesla Model Y rear chassis and crash rails.[16][17] In January 2021, Musk stated that the rear chassis of the Tesla Cybertruck would be produced using a casting machine larger than 8,000-tonne-force (80,000 kN).[18][verification needed]
During May/June 2022, Idra were assembling a 9,000 tonnes-force (88,000 kN) Giga Press.[where?][19]As of December 2023[update], two 9,000 ton presses were available at GigaTexas to cast Cybertruck rears, while Cybertruck front castings are cast on a 6500-ton press that is shared for casting Model Y frames. Total GigaPresses at Texas were two 9,000 ton plus four of the smaller presses.[20]
In June 2020, permits for foundations to support the Giga Press at Fremont were issued[f 1][f 2] with Tesla filing permit applications for construction work in preparation for Die-Casting Machine #2 (DCM2) in July 2022.[f 3][f 4]During September 2020 DCM1 started producing trial runs of Model Y castings and DCM2 had been installed.[21]
LK Technology delivered one Impress-Plus DCC 6000 machine for Glovitech of South Korea, installed in the Vn Trung Industrial Zone, Việt Yn, Bắc Giang Province, Vietnam.[36] The machine is used for producing large Faraday cages (radio-frequency enclosures) for 5G mobile base stations.[36] The machine was delivered in December 2020, and produced its first castings in March 2021.[37]
In September 2023 Tesla was reported to be considering a single-piece casting for entire underbody of its to-be-announced "small car", an easier task than single-casting their existing, larger models. This required learning how to use larger Giga Press machines, reduce mold design costs, and incorporate hollow subframes. Key innovations include using 3D printing to make cast prototypes with industrial sand.[41]
Binder jet printers build casts out of layers of sand stabilized with a liquid binder at a fraction of the cost of using metal and in a fraction of the time. Hollow elements are created after the cast is made by removing sections of sand added during the casting. Parts cast in sand molds require different aluminium alloys and post-cast processing to meet safety and other requirements. Production casting would continue to use metal casts.[41]
The press would need clamping power of 16,000 tons or more, the largest ever made if you ignore existence of 30,000 and 50,000 presses operated by Russia and USA, although this pressure might prevent the use of sand to make hollows. A different type of press would inject molten alloy more slowly that would allow sand cores and produce higher quality castings, although at a slower pace.[41]
In May 2024 Tesla was reported to have put on hold their plans for single-piece casting, and are sticking with three-piece casting on their current lineup as a result of their sales and profits falling.[42]
Tesla is accelerating innovation by upgrading its integrated die-casting technology to version 2.0, which die-casts nearly all of an electric vehicle's complex underbody parts into a single unit, a report in China's official Shanghai Securities News said today, citing a person close to Tesla.
The newspaper's reporter visited Tesla's factory in Lingang, Pudong, Shanghai, where the Model Y's rear underbody structure is already being produced using integrated die-casting technology for rapid casting, according to the report.
"Our gigacasting is an important innovation that is very much in evidence on the Model Y," the report quoted Cui Hailun, Tesla Shanghai's manager of structural and thermal management systems, as saying.
At the same time, the technology offers significant cost advantages, as the cost of the rear floor assembly has been reduced by 40 percent as the car was built using one-piece die casting, according to Cui.
Integrated die-casting technology is bringing disruptive changes to the automotive industry, said Yan Jinghui, an expert committee member of the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), as cited by Shanghai Securities News.
Geely's Zeekr has used one-piece die-casting technology on the body of its Zeekr 009 MPV, eliminating nearly 800 welds, reducing the number of parts by more than 80 and reducing weight by 16 percent, according to the report.
Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) SEPA (Smart Electric Platform Architecture) architecture features front and rear one-piece aluminum die-cast bodies with 161 parts integrated and a maximum die-casting force of 12,000 tons, the report said.
The SUV sold 152,461 units at retail in China from January to May, making it the best-selling SUV in the country during that period, according to a ranking released by the CPCA in June. The model-specific rankings have been no longer available for the past few months.
Another vehicle Tesla is producing in China is the Model 3, and a revamped version of the sedan was unveiled and went up for pre-sale on September 1, with deliveries in China set to begin in the fourth quarter.
It needs 169 fewer pieces and 1,600 fewer welds; the Austin-Made Model Y Body Structure has now appeared outside the Berlin Gigafactory. This first look in the real world may offer insight into the future for Tesla. Elon Musk recently stated the next vehicle would use lessons from all models to make the next Tesla with half the time, cost and effort.
The Model Y casting is tangible proof of making the process more effective. With the Tesla team of engineers tasked with finding more efficiencies, the 2-for-1 plan may be accomplished sooner than we think.
Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
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Numerous studies, especially from Ducker-Carlisle, have shown that aluminum usage in light vehicles has been growing for decades, having surpassed 500 lbs (227 kg) per light vehicle in North America and 396 lbs (180 kg) per vehicle in Europe. Until now, castings have been the predominant product form, but in recent years and even more so in coming years, sheet and extrusion applications are showing the greatest growth rates. The main driver for aluminum use has always been lightweighting.
Currently, a higher aluminum content, especially assemblies of sheet metal and extrusions, means higher costs. Additionally, if primary aluminum is used, it also means a higher carbon footprint. OEMs and their suppliers have therefore been working on lowering both the material and processing costs of their components, while improving production quality and enhancing sustainability, i.e., increasing recycling content in all types of aluminum parts.1
Various other car manufacturers, such as Volvo and its EV brand Polestar, have since decided to follow the same path and also invested in giga-presses (but Volvo calls the components mega-castings). Volvo hopes to develop several vehicle models that can make use of the same mega-casting for its body-in-white (BIW) elements. The castings will integrate even mounting points for components such as suspension arms and electric motors.4
Other notable car companies who are publicly known to be following this trend (or plan to) include Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, and Chinese electric vehicle start-ups Nio and Xpeng.5 Many other OEMs are at least looking at giga-castings or are already secretly working on it.
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