Making incredible machinery requires incredible equipment, as electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla knows very well by this point.
As reported by electrek on Tuesday, Tesla has just started using the world’s largest casting machine, partially guided by the development of the Model Y, which requires just two casting pieces, compared to the Model 3’s 70 required casts. The news was released via an announcement on Tesla’s official Chinese Weibo account, where it claimed the “multi-directional single casting machine for car [bodies had] started operation at [the] Tesla Fremont factory.”
The upgraded casting machine is 6,000 metric tons, compared to the prior machine which was 3,200 US tons, as well as the previous world’s previously largest casting machine, which was 4,500 metric tons.
Current largest casting machine in the world is 4500 metric tons. The new Tesla machine is 6000 metric tons. Their current largest machine is 3200 US tons.
— ERS (@eshow1969) August 22, 2020
While it is not clear if the current use of the machine is simply for testing or more, it is exciting to see it being activated only a week after it was installed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also expressed a desire to cast the entire rear underbody of the Model Y in one single piece, which will begin with the use of this new machine, though it is also not clear when.
Regardless, the new casting machine is an exciting advancement for Tesla’s Fremont factory, and it certainly won’t be the last.
