Photo: Idra Group
Tesla’s 8,000-pound die-casting machine, the Giga Press, is made by Italian company Idra Group, who recently released a video breaking down the production and development of the revolutionary product.
A new video shared on Monday by Idra Group discusses the development of the famed Giga Press die-casting production machine responsible for most of the modern market’s manufactured vehicles, in the first chapter of a five-part video series.
In the video, General Manager of Idra Group Riccardo Ferrario is interviewed discussing the development and deployment of the Giga Press, as well as the assembly of a team able to execute on the company’s grand visions.
Talking about the Giga Press’s size from the beginning of development, Ferrario said, “In February 2017, I called the first meeting with my expert team and together we started imagining the future. To use the word big is not enough. Big is only the side effect of what we want to realize – not just big, but also sustainable, reliable, innovative and with a little Italian style, good-looking.”
Ferrario later continued, adding, “We want to be recognized as the Ferrari of our machine sector – a die-casting machine that is immediately recognizable as an Idra when entering any foundry shop floor.”
The Giga Press is being used by Tesla to make stamped single pieces for its Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla’s Model Y compact crossover SUV was made with two pieces of metal for its underbody and will eventually shift to a single piece, says Tesla. Compare this to the previous rear underbody of the Model 3 which stood at 70 pieces of metal.
Model Y Front and Rear Underbodies Now Utilizing Single-Piece Castings: Report
According to Electrek, one source said Tesla is already using single-piece castings for both the front and rear of the Model Y. Previously, only the rear underbody of the Model Y was used as a single-piece casting.
“It apparently went unnoticed, but a former Tesla employee with knowledge of the Model Y body was able to confirm from the picture that these bodies feature both single-piece front and rear casting parts and reached out to Electrek,” said the site. The image below is from Tesla’s Q2 2021 earnings slide deck:
Below are some videos previously shared by Tesla of the company stamping body parts for Model Y and Model 3:
Stamping Model Y body parts at our Fremont factory pic.twitter.com/qbLrYowJRC
— Tesla (@Tesla) January 24, 2021
Also, Model 3 frunks pic.twitter.com/Up848EP3mk
— Tesla (@Tesla) January 24, 2021
It can cast front & rear vehicle underbodies in a single piece each — down from 70+ parts for same sections previously
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 5, 2021
You can watch Idra Group’s first chapter of a full discussion on the development of the Giga Press below.
