The massive unit turned out to be so large that the employees of the Fremont plant had to assemble it outdoors, and then build an additional roof over it. The Giga Press is designed to produce the Model Y crossover, which will now have two monolithic bodywork instead of the 70 smaller parts used in the Model 3, Electrek reported. This will greatly speed up and reduce the cost of the assembly process. Musk continues to optimize the automotive industry.
The new molding process was patented by the company last summer and was originally developed for the Tesla Model Y. After users discovered the patent online, Elon Musk revealed details about the Giga Press.
“We are moving to aluminum casting instead of a series of stamped parts. We will ditch 70 components in favor of 4 and then use just one. At the same time, Tesla will reduce weight and cost, as well as capital costs for robots, which previously collected 70 parts, ”explained the head of the company.
Tesla’s main goal is to install Giga Press at all Gigafactory factories that are responsible for producing Model Y electric crossovers. This way the company will not only reduce the costs and costs of the electric vehicles themselves, but also increase the speed of assembly lines and free up more space in new factories.
After the construction was completed, Tesla representatives issued an official statement on the Chinese social network Weibo and noted that the company regularly improves electric vehicles not only through software updates “over the air”, but also through equipment and production upgrades.
The Italian company Idra Group with extensive experience in the design of casting machines was responsible for the creation of this installation. The Giga Press weighs over six tons and, according to Musk, takes up as much space as a small house.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only foundry machine that Tesla has acquired in recent months. Simultaneously with the announcement of a partnership with the Idra Group, the automaker bought a similar unit from an unnamed company in China. At the moment it is not known exactly what the purpose of this installation is for, but most likely it will be located at the Gigafactory in Shanghai.