Since its launch, Tesla has had a tremendously ambitious plan: to make the best electric cars, optimizing its processes as much as possible. The manufacturer has already been innovating a lot in this section since the launch of its gigafactories, which for some time now have considerably increased their production.
However, with the increase in demand that Tesla has experienced in recent years, the company needs to optimize its processes even further. Not only to reduce costs, but also to be much more agile by simplifying its production.
In fact, it is going to implement a new casting process that could significantly reduce costs and simplify vehicle manufacturing beyond the capabilities of the rest of the industry, which would undoubtedly mean a competitive advantage over other manufacturers, even those that have been in the industry for more than half a century.
According to sources of Reuters, the new process will allow the automaker to cast almost the entire underside of the vehicle as a single piece. This is a very ambitious step, since today it is necessary, depending on the model and manufacturer, to manufacture and weld around 400 pieces using the conventional techniques used by the industry.
A process that began with Tesla Model Y
It is a process similar to the one that Tesla uses in the Model Y, of which some of its parts are manufactured using its own ultra-high pressure press process that can mold both the front and the rear of the vehicle. The new process would allow you to use a similar technology, with some nuancesfor the entire lower part of its cars, not being limited only to the Model Y. Once this new process is launched, Tesla could produce the entire underbody of its cars in one piece.
Keep in mind that there is a reason why manufacturers use several parts to make bass guitars. Generally, the underbody is manufactured by welding pieces together, leaving the subframe exposed, which is completely hollow and structurally helps the car in the event of an accident.
However, Tesla would also have a solution to maintain the hollow structure of the subframe: a new mold that includes 3D printed cores of solid sand. After printing and casting the piece, the sand is removed, leaving the same hollow substructure without the need to weld pieces together.
It is unknown when Tesla will have the new process ready, but it can undoubtedly be a huge change that will revolutionize the electric car industry, also taking advantage of the innovation that this type of car allows in terms of manufacturing due to the reduced number of moving parts in front of it. to a conventional one.