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

that's just a hit piece by wall street shorts. no quote from munro that tesla was worse than others.
in fact, we had a prime battery here on priuschat that needed harness repair due to rodents, and the insurance company insisted on a whole new battery.
no one wants the liability of a botched repair coming back to haunt them.

 

At least the battery could be replaced. The point of Munro's statement is in reference to structural batteries like the Model Y has, though they aren't the only company using them. With those, replacing the battery is essentially replacing the car's frame. Structural batteries reduce weight, which good for efficiency, and they lower costs. The downside is in the fact that battery replacement is more difficult.

 

looking at a bolt battery replacement video, a decent accident would likely total the car. idk if there's a better way to do these things. whtever happened to gm's skateboard?

 

Here is another translated article quoting some expert from the General Association of German Insurers (GDV)
Presse – Tesla-Kunden droht Kostenschock

We will see what happens with insurrance premiums next year - eg. compared to other evs.

In any case, it might not stay a Tesla-only thing if other companies follow. There should be some regulations around it to improve repairability.

 

Heading for disposable cars?

 

YouTube video shows removal & install of replacement Bolt battery start to finish takes 5 hours presuming the car hasn't been hit or some kind of wreck that results in misalignment of its 10 mounting fasteners.
> $1,000 just for the labor
.

 

From an engineering standpoint, that's fine. If the use of few, large cast parts allows the cost of the car to be brought down low enough, then there won't be any point in repairing them.

It's just that they have such a long way to go on that cost reduction.

 

Interested to see what the safety/crash tests show with the single casting design.

 

Their original skateboard concept was actually a FCEV. The generic term just refers to the shape of the battery pack in a BEV. I'm sure the new GM BEVs are using such, as they are built on dedicated BEV platforms. The EV versions of ICE models are using a different chassis. The Bolt though is using a modified ICE chassis.

Is that why Toyota backed hydrogen? Those tanks have literal expiration dates. With a FCEV, the fuel cells could be degrading faster than batteries.

EV batteries can last the life of the car. Even extended lifecycles could be possible for those willing to live with reduced range. The issue here is high repair costs after a collision. Those have been increasing over time for all cars. Having all the air bags deploy could be high enough cost to result in totaling a car.

Insurance companies are being overly cautious in regards to plug in batteries because of the potential risk of fire from unseen damage inside the pack. That could be mitigated by the manufacturers opening up access to the battery's data. With that it could be determined in a tiny dent to the case actually affected the cells. Then the insurance wouldn't call for a full battery replacement from minor damage, like a rodent chewed wiring harness.

Structural batteries will likely lead to higher replacement costs when the battery does need to be replaced. Mostly from the labor involved.

Want fast battery replacement today, buy a NIO. They're using battery swapping.

 

I was reading an news article this morning, arguably click-bait, saying the EV’s are the dying embers of the automobile concept, ultimately not cleaner (considering longevity, manufacturing complexity, mining for battery minerals), and that efforts to “clean up our act” would be better directed at reducing travel need, city planning and so on. In other words, kicking this habit.

 

I guess if the price is cut in half they can cut production costs in half. Not really interested in benefits to the maker. I’ve never heard of anyone who is. Personally I don’t think much of a large casting, not because it’s musk, just in general. Just from a common sense perspective.

 

Not too long ago I posted about Paris kicking cars out. There is many pluses too it, and places should look into shifting. I just see harder push back against that than going EV.

 

If we look at the 3 possible megacastings the rear, the front, and the center floor. If the center is damaged enough to hurt a megacasting would mean frame damage in a typical vehicle and a repair might total the vehicle. With the batteries here, replacement makes the most sense and may be better. This is true of all unibody vehicles, and they are often totaled in this case. Replacing the front and rear with megacastings as the model Y does, it eliminates 1600 welds. Parts are welded or glued in traditional manufacturing and must be removed in a repair. The thing that would make repair costs higher is not having the small spare parts to repair the broken one, I don't think this will be changing at tesla anytime soon. They likely will just build the full part and discount for the old one back, and melt it down to make a new one.

Megacasting: a chance to rethink body manufacturing | Article | Automotive Manufacturing Solutions

Analysis says for new manufacturing that rear section makes a lot of sense. The prime advantage of mega casting is repeatability one the mold is correct. This is much harder with a large number of smaller parts welded or glued together. Still manufacturers like Toyota already have the welding robots and the process down so for manufacturers with capacity it doesn't make as much sense.

Front section is where in a bev traditional methods may be better because of material choices and larger chances of wanting different things for crumple zones.

 

I don’t know what parts are glued in what the casting replaces but it makes it sound bad, and glued is always included in reasons. The argument is weak. It’s like I bought a Prime knowing full well someday the battery will exceed the cost of the car, while the regular Prius would be ok with the smaller battery and cost. A person I know has a 2005, older lady. She replaced the battery with new one 2-3 years ago, said it was about $2000. Has over 200k,and looks like a new car. On she goes, while a Prime, probably not. It could but it’s a lot of money.
So in some way, not a lot, I regret not buying a regular Prius hybrid, and the same reasoning goes for a one piece casting for a car. I would say this is not hard to understand as it’s usually a topic often discussed in many ways about many products.

 

i'm all for fully recyclable vehicles. and i'm not concerned about totaling in an accident. we do do a lot more on the safe driving front, but i don't know anyone getting into large enough accidents to worry about it.
maybe higher insurance rates will push us towards better alternatives.

our insurance went from $600. to $1,000. from the 13 hycam to the 24.
it will be interesting to see the bolt insurance from my 12 pip.

 

the prime has replaceable modules, and salvage is also available.

 

If damage to the Gigacasting means damage to the EV battery, the car may go up in flames anyway and be burnt to a crisp.

We don't know how often this part will actually be damaged. Or does it include things like the fenders, quarter panels, and/or side rails?

 

i'm guessing bad enough for frame damage, but i'm no expert

 

I would love for our cities to be built to leverage mass transit and few/if any, cars.
I don’t see the USA moving that way.
As for cleanliness of EVs, “ultimately” they are cleaner than an ICE car. They may not be immediately when new, but in general, it doesn’t take long for the EVs to become cleaner than the ICE car.

 

The "reducing travel need and redesigning cities" @Mendel Leisk was mentioning sounds more like putting people next to their job, instead of creating vast suburbs where everyone needs to commute to a downtown work area.

The USA definitely doesn't seem to be moving that way.