Photo: Tesla
Kevin Chau (@kchau), who makes a hobby of scouring service manuals and related documentation to find interesting information, recently found that the front and rear castings, among other things, of Tesla’s new Model Y design with 4680 cells and a structural battery pack are highly repairable (and can even be replaced).
The new structural battery pack-based Model Y design serves to streamline the manufacturing process and significantly improve overall vehicle safety. While going through a crash repair manual for the 4680 Model Y, though, Chau found that it also improves the repairability and replaceability of core structural components.
Both the front and rear castings are repairable (to varying degrees) if they are damaged. For example, some of the parts can be welded, straightened, or otherwise repaired. There are only a few bits (highlighted in red in the image below) that can’t be repaired.
In the event that the castings cannot be repaired, you could replace them, technically. Financially this is obviously not feasible. You just need a frame bench and lots of fancy riveting tools. pic.twitter.com/88WUYF0ars
— Kevin Chau (@kchau) November 20, 2022
If repairs aren’t possible, the front and rear castings can both technically be replaced — although doing so is not financially feasible.
Chau also found that the entire single-piece midsection of the Model Y, which connects to both the front and rear castings, is replaceable. It just needs to be detached from the castings, and a new one can be bolted right on.
The 4680 Model Y is an engineering marvel. Instead of hundreds or even thousands of individual pieces, I count 4 major components, and maybe 10 supporting components that connect the left/right sides of the middle.
— Kevin Chau (@kchau) November 20, 2022
Chau called the Model Y with the new 4680 structural battery pack “an engineering marvel.” Where most vehicles have hundreds or even thousands of individual pieces making up their foundational structure, he counted four major components and maybe 10 supporting components for the new Model Y.
Tesla also equips the Model Y with crash rails in the rear for reinforcement — there’s no wonder the all-electric crossover earned a 5-star safety rating from Euro NCAP and ANCAP back in September. If the crash rails are damaged in the event of a collision, they can simply be cut off and new ones riveted in.
However that’s only for the rear. I suppose once day when the software is chasing the march of 9s, it will be rare for your car to crash into something head on.
— Kevin Chau (@kchau) November 20, 2022
Tesla is currently only producing Model Y units with structural battery packs and front/rear castings at Gigafactory Texas. However, the electric vehicle (EV) maker announced last month that it plans to bring front castings and structural battery packs to Model Y production at Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg “before the end of this year.”
According to a report from earlier this month, Tesla is also gearing up to launch a Standard Range All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) Model Y trim with 4680 batteries in the U.S.
