Austin, Texas — Tesla is reportedly nearing a breakthrough in technology that could ‘gigacast’ an EVs entire underbody in one solid piece.
The electric automaker already uses “Gigapresses” with 6,000 to 9,000 tonnes of clamping pressure to mold the front and rear structures of its Model Y. A newly developed process would allow Tesla to die cast nearly all of the complex underbody of an EV in one piece.
Two inside sources from Tesla further claimed that if the company were to be successful in the giga-casting process, it would be able to develop a car from the ground up in just 18 to 24 months compared to rival companies which can take anywhere from three to four years.
Sources said that combining the front and rear sections of a vehicle with the middle underbody where the battery is housed could allow Tesla to sell their small EVs at a market rate of $25,000 by the middle of the decade, almost half the current cost.
According to one source, the cost of the design validation process with sand casting, even with multiple versions, is minimal—just three percent of the same cost using a metal prototype.
To cast subframes with hollows as part of one giga-casting, Tesla plans to place solid sand cores printed by jets within the overall mold. Once the part has been cast, the sand is removed to leave the voids.
Terry Woychowski, president of U.S. engineering company Caresoft Global, said if Tesla managed to gigacast most of the underbody of an EV, it would further disrupt the way cars are designed and manufactured.
“It is an enabler on steroids. It has a huge implication for the industry, but it’s a very challenging task,” said Woychowski, who worked for U.S. automaker GM (GM.N) for more than three decades. “Castings are very hard to do, especially the bigger and the more complicated.”
Currently, design questions still remain for how Tesla will mold larger vehicles, but at the moment technological shifts for its smaller EVs are creating a sandstorm of change.
