Ube Machinery
Assembly Line
Toyota to test Tesla-style EV gigacasting machine at Japan plant
Toyota Motor will install a giant gigacasting machine at a Japanese plant as soon as this year, Nikkei has learned, looking to lower electric vehicle production costs by adopting a technique perfected by Tesla.
Located at a production center in Aichi prefecture, the machine will be one of the largest pieces of casting machinery in Japan. It will be capable of 9,000 tonnes of clamping pressure. Gigacasting machines typically apply at least 6,000 tonnes of force.
Japanese company Ube Machinery is the maker of the massive gigacasting equipment. The apparatus will measure 10-meters wide, 22-meters long and around 7-meters high, covering the area about the size of a tennis court.
Toyota plans to start gigacasting with the LF-ZC, a next-generation EV to be launched in 2026 under the Lexus brand. The body will be divided into front, center and rear segments. The front and rear portions will be gigacasted. In prototype testing, the rear portion, which calls for 86 parts and 33 processes, was formed into a module in a single process.