Tesla has secured an order for the world’s first 8,000-ton casting machine, which is expected to be key to produce the Cybertruck pickup truck.
In January, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker was looking to secure an order for a new world’s biggest casting machine.
He said during the conference call for Tesla’s Q4 2020 financial results:
“We’ll soon order the equipment necessary to make the Cybertruck work. We’re actually going to be using even bigger machines for the rear body of Cybertruck because you’ve got – obviously, it’s a bigger vehicle and you’ve got a long truck bed that’s going to do a lot of loads. So we’ll be using an 8,000-ton casting press for the rear body casting, as opposed to 6,000 tons for Model Y. So 6,000 tons was the biggest casting machine in the world.”
This week, Idra, an Italy-based die casting technology company, announced that they have officially secured an order for an 8,000-ton casting machine.
Riccardo Ferrario, Idra General Manager, announced:
“Idra makes a world’s first for technological innovation and we are very proud to that today, on March 16, 2021, we have been able to secure the first order for an 8,000-ton die casting machine.”
Idra didn’t confirm that Tesla is behind the order and, instead, only mentioned a “leading global manufacturer for new energy vehicles.” But Tesla is clearly behind the order since Idra is already a supplier for the automaker, and Musk mentioned the new die casting machine just a month ago.
Here’s the video announcement with a glimpse at Idra’s latest casting machine:
The executive argues that this new machine and Tesla’s planned use shows that the technology can be used to produce bigger parts in bigger vehicles like pickup trucks.
The new machine is expected to be deployed at Tesla Gigafactory Texas, where Tesla aims to start Cybertruck production late this year or early next year.
Tesla’s use of Idra’s giant 6,000-ton casting machines, also known as “Giga Press,” has already proven successful with the Model Y program.
We previously reported that Tesla is now producing the Model Y with one giant rear underbody that used to be made of 70 parts.
That’s possible due to Tesla’s first Giga Press, which was installed at the Fremont factory and put in operation last year. The machine was reportedly the first of its kind, and it has a clamping force of 55,000 to 61,000 kilonewtons (5,600 to 6,200 ft).
Tesla has introduced another of those massive machines at the Fremont, California-based factory in September.
Last week, Tesla ran into some issues with one of the machines as a fire broke out at the site. The Fremont fire department said that “molten aluminum and hydraulic fluid” were the cause of the fire.
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