And they are really massive, as this video shows.
Our first glimpse of Tesla’s efforts to simplify manufacturing came from Sandy Munro and the Model Y teardown process he ran. It showed two big cast parts, one for each half of the rear panels. Despite the engineer’s help, Elon Musk said that was temporary: a single piece would replace the two castings. And that really happened, as the video above shows.
In short, Munro or anyone else willing to check what Tesla did will only need to dismantle a new Model Y in case they want to learn how the company did that. The YouTube channel Gabeincal managed to check these new castings with the help of a drone.
Due to the total lack of a description, we can only guess which were this youtuber’s intentions. With the help of subtitles, he warns his viewers the video starts at the 47700 Kato Road building, where Tesla supposedly is conducting its Roadrunner project to produce its own batteries. We’ll learn more about them in less than two weeks.
Close to the end of the video, the drone flies over the Fremont factory. It then films a Giga Press placed outside of the main building. Is Tesla running out of space? It is there that we have the first view of the new gigacastings.
One of the main concerns about using cast parts to build a car was the speed in which they could be produced. Mass production may demand way more than a single machine can make, which can explain why Giga Berlin will have eight of the largest casting machines on the planet.
Another worry was that castings don’t bend. If something hits them, they break. However, Sandy Munro’s analysis of the cast parts he found on that Model Y showed it has a new kind of alloy, probably more resistant. Musk also said he would talk about that at the Tesla Battery Day.
So far, what we can say is that these parts are massive and probably heavy. How will they be put into the production lines? Are there any Model Y units already receiving these gigacastings? Will these cars be better than the ones that had two halves? There are the questions we would do if Tesla talked to the press.
Source: Gabeincal
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