Featured Gigacasting 2.0: Tesla looks to diecast nearly the entire underbody in one piece

These guys are doing things legacy manufacturers never dreamed of

 

One article I read explained it as near the same way they build hot wheels toy, but much bigger. And one wonders how many parts are turned into one single part with this method. I'm thinking at least 20-30 parts compared to other car makers.

 

Not sure if they'll ever open up factory tours to non-owners the way Nissan did for us when we visited their Smyrna Tennessee factory. But if you ever get a chance to go through a Tesla tour it's highly recommended. Blew us away.
.

 

the new book on musk was very enlightening. blows away all the myths and internet hype

 

You already read the whole thing?

 

nah, i watched an interview with the author that bwilson posted. looking forward to the book, but walter isaacson does a brilliant job of capturing musks persona.
it's so funny when you read the internet hype about unhappy tesla employees, racism, safety problems and etc.
i'm not saying there aren't problems, but what company doesn't have them.
the way he motivates people, you either buy in, or move on. he has some brilliant engineers that most companies would be envious of.

 

I predict that one of their greater challenges will be repairability.

Casting one piece to replace 400 sounds great, but hopefully they don't get carried away. One advantage of the classic design is that you can take advantage of modularity to only replace broken components after a crash.

It may wind up being possible to easily replace the gigacast part. That remains to be seen. It could be very difficult to replace, meaning that it could be unexpectedly easy to total such a car, with implications on insurance.

 

Yes... Basically almost every part of the car body is going to be like a rear quarter panel that requires welding & lots of bondo... But Tesla pays for cost of production, not cost of a repair from an accident so the repairability issues probably doesn't matter to them.

 

repair and insurance have to be a part of the plan, they know for viable uptake, high rates will slow the process if not bring it to a halt eventually.

 

It seems already challenging when looking at the high insurance rates for Teslas - which at least in Germany can eat up the maintenance savings compared to ICEs.

Additionally I wonder how the EU will react given the commission adapted "right to repair" rules for appliances. This will have a huge impact on e.g. mobile phones (iPhone) and batteries. There are similar ideas for cars and such and given the ecological fingerprint it much bigger it might make a lot of sense too.
Press corner | European Commission

 

Germany have optional anytime can be activated 15 years/250 000 km warranty in any Toyota. It is unbeatable deal if we just want repair insurance

 

The question I have is if you will be able to weld the cast part. Depending on the casting process it could be very difficult to impossible to weld.

 

I wouldn't hold much hope for weldability, especially when they need to doctor up the alloy to suit casting needs. That means it isn't likely to also be optimized for welding later.

Where I was thinking of repairability is in how the casting attaches to everything else: if they design it so there are bosses drilled and threaded at the corners (just for example) it would probably be smart for them to design it so that there are extra bosses. Do the overall design such that the structure is viable if you only use 1 of 2 possible bolts for each join, for example.

That way when somebody cracks a boss off one edge, you don't have to condemn the entire casting- just use the "b" mounts for that particular joint.

 

ev rates are high due to the battery costs.

 

Yes but Tesla even more so:
Tesla's Model Y Battery Has 'Zero Repairability,' Sandy Munro Says

 

Wouldn't tesla design for such probabilities? Once upon a time - Having 1,000's of hrs under the hood tig welding - many aluminum alloys have sufficient magnesium that they can be (re) heat treated after welding. But would they? Steel becomes annealed in welded areas - yet do any shops take remedial measures for that?
.

 

You'd know the metalwork better than me. But look at everything else Tesla designs: one part inspired brilliance combined with one part pants-on-head stupid = something that serves the fanboys and the critics equally well.

 

An another note, from what I understand there are lots of places and categories that do not allow re-welded structural parts just for that reason. As a commercial driver in the USA, I distinctly remember that during preinspection of a commercial vehicle to report and not drive any vehicle with a welded frame.

When I was on the classic VW forums, in Europe (can't remember which country) a guy had a bad Beetle frame that he was trying to figure out how to get secretly welded and make look like stock since legally you couldn't drive it if the frame had been welded.

However, US non-commercial vehicle laws are a bit more loose and allow welding frame members in accordance to any possible manufacture's recommendations.

 

One of the great things early Tesla did on the Model X & S was the quick removal of the entire traction pack. Done during a Time when factions trying to get tax benefits for their self while denying Tesla .... by way of determining time for quick refill. Battery swap station could get your ride back on the road in just over 1½ minutes .... even tho the pack is an integral part of structural integrity.

The charge station became passe because quick charging seemed to be quick enough for users.
.