“With our giant casting machines, we are literally trying to make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made,”
This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX, which makes and sells aftermarket Tesla accessories. The opinions expressed therein are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs, nor have we been paid by EVANNEX to publish these articles. We find the company’s perspective as an aftermarket supplier of Tesla accessories interesting and are happy to share its content free of charge. Enjoy!
Posted on EVANNEX on January 26, 2021 by Iqtidar Ali
Tesla has not given up on its dream of manufacturing cars by creating the entire body of the vehicle with a single-piece casting. Elon Musk recently tweeted, “With our giant casting machines, we are literally trying to make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made,” he said.
Just like toy cars are manufactured using a complete body diecast, Tesla is trying to bring the same concept to real-world car manufacturing. Tesla’s success in this methodology will further advance the single-piece Giga casting revolution the automaker has begun to introduce with its Model Y electric SUV.
 |
Last year, a Tesla patent showcased how the company envisions a giant unibody casting machine that could create the entire shell of the car (exoskeleton) all at once.
That said, when Musk showed the Model Y’s single-piece rear and front underbody castings on Battery Day, skeptics said that the unibody production concept was now dead. However, with Musk’s recent tweet, it’s clear that Tesla is still pursuing the idea of a monocoque Tesla car.
As a reference point, the following video shows how toy car shells are carved out of a single piece of wood or metal. In essence, Musk is trying to take this technique from the toy industry and bring it to the auto industry. As a side note, this method used for toy cars is not new — the example seen in the video actually dates back to 1965.
A machine this big can make the current giga casting machines look small. One thing to remember is that Tesla has not yet gotten approval on this patent. After further fine-tuning, Tesla might file another patent or re-apply with changes. The important thing to keep in mind is that Elon Musk is not ready to abandon this goal just because of an unapproved patent.
Nevertheless, it’s still not clear when Tesla will be able to achieve the goal of creating an entire car using a giant casting machine. But the future of automotive manufacturing could become more interesting as we move closer and closer to a compact $25,000 Tesla.
===
Written by: Iqtidar Ali. An earlier version of this article was originally published on Tesla Oracle.
Source: Read Full Article