May 02 2024, 08:20
Tesla retreats from next- generation 'gigacasting' manufacturing process:
Tesla, amid falling sales and increasing competition, has abandoned plans for an innovative one-piece gigacasting manufacturing process. Initially aiming to revolutionize manufacturing and reduce costs, Tesla has opted for its more traditional three-piece method for vehicle underbodies. The decision underscores Tesla's strategic pivot towards self-driving technology over massive EV sales growth, reflecting recent layoffs and executive departures. This shift also comes after the cancellation of the Model 2 and signals a more conservative approach to production innovation.
Tesla has backed away from an ambitious plan for innovations in gigacasting, its pioneering manufacturing process, according to two sources familiar with the matter, in another sign that the electric- vehicle maker is retrenching amid falling sales and rising competition.
Tesla has been a leader in gigacasting, a cutting-edge technique that uses huge presses with thousands of tons of clamping pressure to die-cast large sections of the car's underbody. On a typical vehicle, the underbody can consist of hundreds of individual parts.
The step-back on gigacasting occurred last autumn, the people said, before Tesla decided in late February to halt development of an all-new affordable car, often called the Model 2, which would have been the first vehicle it built with one- piece gigacasting. Reuters first reported the cancellation of the Model 2 on April 5.
On April 23, as it released earnings that missed Wall Street expectations, Tesla said it had a simpler, faster plan for producing "more affordable" cars after shelving plans for the Model 2, which was expected to cost $25,000 and be released in the second half of 2025.
Instead, Tesla officials said, it would produce affordable models using a current platform and production lines. On an investor call, Chief Executive Elon Musk declined to provide details on the planned new offerings or their target prices.
Tesla has not entirely abandoned the small-vehicle platform it had planned for the Model 2. Instead, it will move forward in developing a self-driving robotaxi on the same platform, Reuters reported in the April 5 story. One of the two sources familiar with the automaker's gigacasting operations said the suppliers involved are now adapting Tesla's three-piece process for the next-generation vehicle.
source: et
May 03 2024, 08:12