Here’s How Tesla and Elon Musk Are Revolutionizing Car Manufacturing.
Here’s How Tesla and Elon Musk Are Revolutionizing Car Manufacturing.
Other manufacturers are already ready to take advantage of this revolution.
Elon Musk isn't just revolutionizing the automobile. The global electric car pioneer is also becoming a noted innovator in the industrial field: for the past two years, he has been using Giga Presses to build his cars. An advance that is being studied closely by many automakers, such as Mercedes and Volvo. For most automotive and industrial specialists, Tesla is reinventing car factories and the way cars are made.
Introduced in 2020 at the historic Fremont, California plant to produce the Model Y, these giant presses, the size of a small house, are now present in all of the American firm's assembly plants: Shanghai, Berlin, and Austin. The presses are used to manufacture the entire rear part of the chassis in one go, by injecting a molten aluminum alloy into a giant mold, which is then subjected to a pressure of 6,100 tons.
The objective is to eliminate the welding steps
This process allows for a single large casting, where more than 70 parts were needed on the Model 3. The die-casting technology is not new, but it was previously used for smaller parts, with pressures of 2,000 or 2,500 tons. With these new machines, Tesla avoids many assembly and welding steps, saving time and reducing costs: by about 10 percent on the car's structure.
In an interview with automotive expert Sandy Munro, Elon Musk explained that the Giga Presses remove 300 robots from the assembly line. The use of aluminum will also make the cars lighter, a valuable asset for electric vehicle range.
Tesla engineers worked for more than a year with their supplier, the Italian Idra Group, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong group LK Technology, to develop this innovative machine. The American carmaker intends to use it in the future to also produce the front of the chassis, as well as the plates for the batteries, which will allow it to eliminate 370 parts.
In a tweet dating back to January 2021, Elon Musk explained that he wanted to manufacture his cars as we manufacture toys:
“With our giant casting machines, we are literally trying to make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made”.
An experience closely studied by all other manufacturers
Many manufacturers are studying the American firm's experience. Chinese newcomers Nio and Xpeng have followed Tesla's lead, ordering 12,000-ton injection molding machines. And Mercedes has announced its intention to use giant foundry parts for its Vision EQXX, a concept car unveiled at the last CES in Las Vegas.
Volvo, finally, announced that it would use this technology for its new models in its Torslanda plant in Sweden, starting in 2025. Volkswagen's boss, Herbert Diess, has set himself the goal of manufacturing its future electric cars in 10 hours like Tesla in Berlin, instead of 30 hours for its ID3s today. Volkswagen has not yet announced its intention to use giga-presses, but its decision to build a brand new factory in Wolfsburg will allow it to incorporate them if needed.
Cars are directly classified as wrecked in case of an accident
However, these Giga Presses do not have only advantages.
The first problem is that they are only suitable for large volumes because of the development time required. Giant parts are also more complicated, if not impossible, to change in case of an accident. These giant parts cannot be straightened or replaced. If one of these giant traps breaks, the vehicle will be directly classified as a wreck by the insurers. Radical and rather embarrassing for the consumer!
This is what pushed Olivier Zipse, the boss of BMW, to dismiss in November 2021 the idea of producing such giant parts for the cars of his brand. For him, the problem is twofold. First of all, he considers the extra cost of Giga Presses excessive compared to the savings made. Secondly, he considers the repair costs to be too high. So it's not worth it.
This is the opposite of Elon Musk's opinion, who loves these processes more than ever in his desire to revolutionize automobile production.
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