Tesla Backs Off Gigacasting Manufacturing Plans
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Following the news of Elon Musk firing the entire Supercharger team, Tesla is reportedly backing away from its high-volume gigacasting manufacturing plans, according to Reuters. After its recent earnings report missed the mark for shareholders and analysts alike, Tesla is seemingly backing off its most ambitious strategies in the name of cost-cutting.
After tempering its charging network advancements, Tesla is allegedly slowing its role in the radical manufacturing process, pioneered by its supplier Idra Group. The idea is to die-cast large portions of the car’s underbody. According to a Reuters report from last year, Tesla was prototyping a small-vehicle platform known as the Model 2, with the explicit goal of casting the underbody in one piece.
Instead of costly and extended assembly processes, Tesla's vision of punching out underbodies whole was a revolutionary one, but that is all being put on pause for now. Instead, Tesla is sticking with its current three-piece underbody, with two gigacasted front and rear sections plus an aluminum and steel midsection for battery storage, according to Reuters. For reference, this manufacturing methodology is currently employed on the Model Y and Cybertruck.
Inside sources cited by Reuters say that the beginning of the gigacasting reel back started last year. The all-out halt of the development process occurred in February, in conjunction with the cancellation of the Model 2. Instead, Tesla is seemingly putting a greater focus on autonomous technology, as Musk recently traveled to China in the name of expanding Full Self-Driving to the country.
Much like the transition to electric vehicle manufacturing, the process of building out factories is an expensive one with significant lead time to production. As a result, it's not particularly surprising that Tesla is pulling back on this endeavor for now, especially after reporting a 9 percent drop in revenue for the first quarter of the year. While other manufacturers have pondered gigacasting, Tesla was among the only manufacturers with official plans in place, joined by Chinese brands like Zeeker and NIO.
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