Large Component Casting
Assembly Line
Honda Outlines Key Production Processes Behind New Line of EVs
Honda 0 Series is the automaker’s new approach to electric vehicle development, which is focusing on the theme of “thin, light and wise.” The goal of the R&D project is to minimize battery size while providing sufficient cruising range and a nimble driving experience that transcends the existing image of EVs.
Honda engineers are focusing their efforts on four core production technologies, including megacasting and friction stir welding. Megacasting involves molding large cast parts such as one-piece battery enclosures that eliminate seams. A new battery case, which traditionally consists of more than 60 parts, has been reduced to only five parts, making it possible to produce a high-quality, thin and light enclosure.
3D Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is being applied to two processes in the manufacturing of battery cases. The first is the process of joining parts made by megacasting to form the case enclosure, and the second is the process of joining the water jacket cover, which is necessary to provide the battery with cooling. The technology uses only the frictional heat between the rotating rod-shaped tool and the joint to soften and join the aluminum parts.
The Gigacasting Question: Innovation Vs. Investment In Auto Production
Imagine reducing the number of total parts in a car by 370. That’s exactly what Tesla achieved with its Model 3, using the colossal Giga Press and eliminating problems associated with joining 70 pieces. Tesla reported a 40% cost reduction for the rear of the Model Y using gigacasting. While exact production time savings vary, industry experts suggest significant reductions in manufacturing time and complexity.
A comparison of manufacturing methods for producing 100,000 rear underbody units per year reveals that steel stamping and joining require $2.3 million to $3.4 million in equipment and tooling, while aluminum gigacasting needs a $6 million HPDC machine and $1.2 million to $1.5 million in tooling. However, gigacasting also achieves 27.8 doable jobs per hour versus 24.4 for steel stamping while reducing labor costs and indirect costs. With the reduced complexity, there are fewer parts to be made, simplifying assembly and quality control processes and requiring fewer operators on the production line. While gigacasting uses more expensive materials ($151 to $226 vs. $75.6 for steel), the overall cost benefits are substantial, and changing mold designs offers more flexible than modifying hundreds of parts in a complex supply chain.
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.
A Chinese Company Just ‘Gigacast’ An Entire Underbody
Chinese automaker Chery Auto has cast an entire underbody using a 13,000-ton dual-injection press. Huge castings are amazing when they’re warranted. Subframes, suspension arms, drive motor housings, hubs, dashboard support structures, seat frames, if it bolts on, you name it. However, casting an entire underbody in one go seems like a process with downsides for consumers. A car is the second-most expensive thing you’ll buy in your life, so let’s keep them repairable.
It may be that significant R&D was required to get the die design to flow the metal just right without porosity or early solidification. Chery may not want anyone to see flow patterns in the casting that might teach them something. Alternatively, maybe they’re just hiding the geometry of the final part due to its relevance to their upcoming models. Or maybe these castings are full of defects and they’re hiding the evidence? That’s a long shot, though. Why would they boast if they can’t make the castings work?
Giant presses to build cars around the world
Carat Megacasting Solution in the Spotlight
Here are all >120 Giga Press Orders
— Luca Greco (@lucagrecoita) January 29, 2024
As you can see the vast majority of them are from Chinese T1 suppliers.
Very few are from European OEMs or suppliers.
The real number of orders is between 170 and 180.
I was able to track between 120 and 150 orders, which is not bad given… pic.twitter.com/7Afn2ojbg8
Toyota Outlines Future Production Processes
The new strategy is rooted in the basic principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which includes a willingness to do things “for the benefit of someone other than yourself” and a “human-centered” approach to manufacturing. “What caught my attention the most was seeing see the famous genchi genbutsu (real place, real facts) now being done via video,” notes Obara. “Toyota engineers designed a vest to hold a camera, so remote people would not need to be on site to see it all.”
Toyota’s next-generation EVs will be built upon a new modular structure in which car bodies are divided into three sections: front, center and rear. The center section will house solid-state batteries, which offer faster charging and longer range than conventional batteries. Giga-casting is one of the new production technologies that will make these modular structures possible. Currently, the rear section of the Toyota bZ4X EV is made with 86 sheet metal parts and 33 press processes.
“Whereas a typical changeover might take 24 hours and require a large crane, giga-casting molds, which weigh more than 100 tons, leads to even greater time loss,” says Shingo. “Our new approach to giga casting divides molds into two types: general-purpose molds that remain mounted on the machinery and specialized molds whose shape differs by car model. During a replacement, only the compact specialized molds detach themselves automatically from the general-purpose molds.” With these just-in-time mold changes—replacing only what is needed, when it is needed, in the quantity needed—Toyota is aiming to bring lead times down to 20 minutes or less.
Why Tesla’s Cybertruck Is So Hard To Manufacture
GM snatches key Tesla gigacasting supplier TEI
For years, a little-known company called Tooling & Equipment International (TEI) has helped Tesla push back the frontiers of “gigacasting”, the process it pioneered to cast large body parts for cars in one piece to save time and money. Until 2023, that is. TEI is now part of General Motors after agreeing a deal that may have flown under the radar but is a key part of the U.S. automaker’s strategy to make up ground on Tesla, four people familiar with the transaction said.
By snapping up a specialist in sand casting techniques that accelerated the development of Tesla’s gigacasting molds and allowed it to cast more complex components, GM has jump-started its own push to make cars more cheaply and efficiently at a time when Tesla is racing to roll out a $25,000 EV, the people said.
With TEI gone, Tesla is leaning more heavily on three other casting specialists it has used in Britain, Germany and Japan to develop the huge molds needed for the millions of cheaper EVs it plans to make in the coming decade, the four people said.
Toyota takes on Tesla’s gigacasting in battle for carmaking’s future
Some car executives and analysts expect Tesla’s process — which Musk calls “gigacasting” — to set a new benchmark for building vehicles, replacing the vaunted Toyota Production System based on just-in-time manufacturing efficiency. The way Tesla is making cars “is quickly moving to become an industry standard”, said one senior executive at a European automaker.
For the moment, Toyota says it wants more than half of its 2030 sales target to be made up of EVs using its new modular architecture, which allows it to produce multiple different models, that share key components, on the same platforms. Yuzawa said: “Gigacasting is going to reshape the whole underbody supply chain network.”
Short Market Overview Gigacasting and Giga Presses in the Automotive Industry
How much does a Giga Press cost in China?
- 6,000 ton ~ € 6,000,000 (DCC 6000 Impress Plus L.K.)
- 9,000 ton ~ €10,500,000 (estimation)
- 12,000 ton > €14,500,000
- 16,000 ton ~ € 20,000,000 (estimation)
- The die casting peripheral equipment costs are about € 8 mio.
- The logistic costs of a Giga Press from IDRA are approx. 10-15% of the value of the machine.
- The tooling costs are one of the largest contributors to the part price. Gigacastings rely on AlSi7CuMg for Tesla or AlSi7MnMg for OEMs like Volkswagen or Volvo.
- At the same time, the gross win rate of large die casting machines is 10-15 points higher than that of ordinary die casting machines, and the net win rate is between 15-20%.