They are the house-sized die casting cells that Tesla will be receiving from italian die casting machine producer, IDRA.
Tesla has ordered two of these giga presses, and the first will be installed soon. Probably first in the Fremont electric car main plant and in the new Gigafactory in China, Tesla wants to cast a rear part in one piece, which so far has been composed of 3 elements in the Model Y and up to 70 pieces in Model 3.
This is an important step for automotive engineering: other manufacturers also work with aluminum to save weight, but Tesla boss Musk is known for great promises, and in this case experts would agree with his statement that the giant casting for the Model Y should be regarded as revolutionary.
The magazine also quotes industry consultant Sandy Munro, who has recently become known and popular in Tesla circles with much praise for Musk and his electric cars. In its current form, the castings for the rear of the Model Y were among the largest ever, he said in a podcast together with the Tesla boss. With the switch to "Mega-Casting" Tesla increased its lead in this regard.
Even more whole components with the Giga press
According to IDRA, Tesla is the first customer for its almost 20 meter long 5 meter high and 400 ton heavy OL 6100 CS giga press. Tesla can save 30 percent space in the press shop by reducing it to a single cast part for the rear frame, which could result in a 20 percent reduction in labor costs.
According to CEO Musk, Model 3 will sooner or later be produced with large castings, but for the time being Tesla has to live with the errors in its construction. At the latest from the German Gigafactory, however, the base Tesla should also come partly from a giga press, because Tesla can freely redefine the processes and machines for it and it is also being considered to cast the front of the Model Y from a single piece.
Source: Teslamag, SAE Automotive Engineering
