Has Tesla abandoned revolutionary manufacturing process?
A new technique from Tesla designed to drastically cut vehicle manufacturing time and cost is said to have been scrapped, adding to the latest drama from the electric-car company
News outlet Reuters claims Tesla has abandoned its expanded plans for single-piece ‘gigacasting’ – a process which stamps out large pieces of metal used for the floors and side panels in vehicles, which would have saved considerable time and money during manufacturing.
Currently, most car makers cast multiple pieces before welding or bonding them together to make a large section.
Tesla already uses gigacasting in Texas-built Model Ys to stamp the front and rear structures of the car in single pieces, but does not use it on the underbody – and the technique is not used at all on most of its models.
According to the latest report, Tesla has opted to continue with its current practice of stamping three pieces of the floorpan together.
However, Reuters claims the decision was made in the third quarter of 2023, prior to reporting the US electric car maker had axed its affordable small car project – which prompted CEO Elon Musk to accuse the news outlet of lying.
If the timeline is accurate, the decision would have come just prior to Lexus unveiling the world’s first concepts with underbodies created using gigacasting techniques.
While Tesla has not yet confirmed any changes to its pursuit of single-piece underbody gigacasting, the news comes just days after the company laid off two teams – one responsible for its Supercharger network, and the other for developing new models.
It’s believed more than 500 staff were dismissed, according to website The Information – including senior Australian engineer Daniel Ho, director of ‘Vehicle Programs and New Product Introduction’.
Last month, Tesla cut 10 per cent of its global workforce, Reuters reported at the time, with approximately 15,000 employees affected.
See more here drive.com.au
Header image: TechCrunch
About the author: Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Defend The Scientific Method
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company 
incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.
aaron
| #
anything musk is crap
Reply
John V
| #
If he didn’t have government subsidies, you wouldn’t know who Elon Musk is. He wouldn’t have any business at all.
Reply
Wisenox
| #
Many EV companies are cutting back due to poor sales. This also includes inventory, such as batteries.
Those batteries are very expensive, so they aren’t going to dispose of the unused ones to create new ones. If you buy an EV, you might want to ensure that your battery hasn’t been sitting in a warehouse for years beforehand.
You’ll also want to make sure that the tires are easy to find and cheap, because the tire wear on EVs is much higher than gasoline cars and you will be replacing tires more frequently. Oil every 3000 miles: $30
New tires: $400 each.
New 12v battery: $150
New EV battery: $10,000
Gas vs Electricity: who cares, we’ll be using generators to save money anyway.
Reply
Howdy
| #
You might be interested in this:
A £120,000 porsche that’s losing thousands by the month, is worth worth less than 400 quid as scrap, even though the battery is 45 grand.
Good choice eh?
Reply