Tesla has been spotted assembling its giant new casting machine for Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas.
Last year, Idra, the maker of Tesla’s large casting press, teased a new 9,000-ton Giga Press that would take the prize as largest in the world. Considering Tesla’s relationship with Idra, it was rumored that the new machine would be for the automaker.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has since confirmed that the machine is going to be used for the Cybertruck body at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla’s investment in larger cast parts has been extremely successful so far. The automaker managed to produce the Model Y with a single rear body piece that replaced 70 different parts in the vehicle, and it is doing the same with the front underbody.
This greatly simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces costs.
Following the success of the integration of large casting technology, several other automakers are apparently looking to follow in Tesla’s footsteps.
Idra reported last year that half a dozen other automakers are currently in talks to adopt the technology, but it could take years before they can integrate it into any vehicle programs.
But as for Tesla, the automaker is already moving into a wider integration of the technology, including with the Cybertruck, which is going to have even larger single casting parts.
Over the last few months, Tesla has been spotted getting deliveries of parts of the massive press from Idra.
Now a new drone flyover of Gigafactory Texas that managed to peek inside the factory showed that Tesla is currently assembling the new 9-ton Giga Press:
The giant machine has been spotted partly assembled in a section of the factory where Tesla plans to build the Cybertruck’s body:
There are a lot of eyes on the Cybertruck production program.
There are about 1.5 million people interested in the Tesla Cybertruck, and they have been starved of information for a while.
An update on the production version with final specs and pricing has been expected for the past year, but the automaker has decided to stay quiet about the electric truck, which already had some delays.
When Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck back in 2019, Tesla said that the electric pickup truck would make it to market by the end of 2021. As the deadline was approaching, the automaker confirmed that production slipped to 2022.
CEO Elon Musk later said that Tesla was targeting a start of production for the electric pickup truck in “late 2022” at Gigafactory Texas. With the focus clearly on bringing the Model Y to production at the factory (that being delayed as well), it appeared likely that the Cybertruck production timeline could also slip.
In March 2022, it was confirmed that Tesla aims to complete Cybertruck development this year for production in 2023, and in June, Musk said that Tesla is aiming for production to start in mid-2023.
In its communications, Tesla has stuck to a mid-2023 timeline over the last few months. Therefore, it’s important to see Tesla making progress on some of those critical new production tools like this Giga Press in order for the automaker to stick to its timeline.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
