Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Bring down the mad demon and go online.

Author | Truman

Tesla integrated die-casting technology, has made a major breakthrough.

And this technology has begun to be used. Model Y, produced by Shanghai Super Factory, uses integrated die-casting technology 2.0.

Originally, multiple parts are integrated into one part, and the production efficiency climbs greatly. compared with the traditional mode of production, the weight of the car body system can be reduced by more than 10%.

The most important thing is to reduce the cost, thanks to the optimization of structural design, after the integrated die-casting method is adopted in the Model Y rear floor assembly system, the cost is reduced by 40%.

Musk, the "cost-reducing madman", finally got a weapon at hand. This new technology can almost change the existing production model of electric vehicles and enable Musk to accelerate his goal of halving production costs.

From then on, Tesla's biggest product will no longer be the car, but the factory.

Other car companies are also catching up quickly, including Toyota, GM, Ford and a large number of traditional car companies, have begun to develop integrated die-casting technology. A new round of price war is inevitable.

01. Subverting the tradition, the traditional automobile chassis with a research and development cycle of at least 18 months is usually welded by hundreds of parts to form a front and rear structure plus a three-stage structure in the middle.

Tesla integrated die-casting technology 2.0, that is, the electric vehicle almost all the complex body floor parts, die-casting into a whole.

The benefits are obvious, such as a more stable and sturdy body and improved NVH performance. With a die casting machine, 200 to 300 robots in the production line can be collectively "offline", and this alone can save a lot of cost.

Source: Model Y, which Tesla currently produces in Tesla Shanghai Super Factory, has applied these technologies for rapid mold casting. The biggest feature is to save money, time and effort.

The weight can be saved by more than 10%, the related cost can be reduced by 40%, and the production efficiency can be greatly improved. On September 6, the 2 million vehicle of Tesla Shanghai Super Factory went off the line. According to a person concerned by Tesla, it took 33 months for the Shanghai factory to achieve the target of "1 million vehicles" for the first time, from 1 million to 2 million, only 13 months.

Source: Tesla calculates that the average production time of each car is 2.5 times faster!

Feedback to the consumer side, the car is sold more cheaply.

In fact, the current application of this technology in Shanghai factories is not all. At the site of the Investor Day in March this year, Musk introduced Tesla's transformation plan for the factory-"unpacking process" (Unboxed Assembly Process). This is also the key to Tesla's plan to produce tens of millions of cheaper electric vehicles over the next decade and remain profitable.

This brand-new production mode subverts the four major processes of traditional car stamping, welding, painting and final assembly. The parts of the whole car are divided into six large modules, each of which is produced separately.

After the production of these modules is completed, Tesla assembles the entire car body through the stamping process, just like assembling boxes. Of course, Tesla will not treat the vehicle as a box, but unfold the box and assemble it, so it is called "unpacking process".

Tesla said that through this new process, the factory manufacturing staff will be reduced by 40 per cent, and the space and time required for manufacturing will be reduced by 30 per cent. At the same time, the assembly cost can be reduced to half of the current Model 3 or Model Y.

Source: Tesla Reuters reported not long ago that die-casting molding of car bottom parts is a key step in the "unpacking process".

Relying on this technology, Tesla's research and development cycle for a new car will also be greatly shortened. Sources said that Tesla was able to complete the development of a car from scratch within 18-24 months, while before that, car companies developed a new car in more than seven or eight years, or as little as three or four years.

For this technology, many bigwigs have begun to express their support. For example, Jean-Philippe Wickler, a researcher at the Free University of Dortmund in Germany, commented that Tesla's new process revolutionized than modular production and removed the standard process. and created a whole new work model.

Martin French, director of Berylls, a German management consulting firm, also said that the production system that Toyota has developed and used for decades has been knocked down, and Tesla's Unbox process will change the way cars are produced.

02, the cost is too high, users benefit from limited integrated die-casting technology for a short time, it is self-evident that it can not only improve production efficiency, but also reduce costs, but it is not completely without shortcomings.

The biggest problem is that it is too expensive.

Its research and development cost is quite high, and some foundry experts say that once a large metal trial mold is made, a processing adjustment in the design process may cost 100000 US dollars, while remanufacturing the mold may cost 1.5 million US dollars. Unless the mold can meet the design requirements at one time, the late adjustment and change, or even scrapping is a large cost.

In other words, a die-cast model with an all-in-one machine must be a popular style.

Source: Tesla, in general, the entire design process of a large metal mold costs about $4 million, and the process often needs to be repeated five or six times or more to achieve perfection.

This is also an important reason why the integrated die casting technology has not been widely used in automobile companies for a long time, although it is good.

But Tesla thought of how to solve this problem from the very beginning-- printing in 3D.

In order to cast the bottom of the car into a whole, Musk turned to a company that uses 3D printers to make test moulds out of industrial sand, Reuters reported.

To put it simply, a 3D printer is used to deposit a liquid adhesive on a thin layer of sand, and then create a die that can cast molten alloy layer by layer.

According to sources, the cost of the design verification process for sand casting is by far the lowest of all options, only 3% of that of the metal prototype.

At the same time, another benefit of 3D printing is that it can save development time. According to Reuters, using 3D printing and other company equipment, a new prototype can be reprinted in a few hours, so Tesla can adjust it many times according to the design needs.

In terms of time, the design verification cycle using sand casting takes only 2 to 3 months, while the metal mold prototype takes half a year to one year.

After the problems of upfront cost and time have been solved, it is necessary to consider the actual operation.

In order to achieve die-casting of large body parts, Tesla needs a larger die-casting machine. Some foundry engineers said that the larger the die casting area, the higher the requirements for the clamping force, and to realize the integrated die casting at the bottom of the car body, the clamping force needs to reach the level of 16000 tons, and the machine is huge, which also means more plant space and more money.

Tesla is now used in the integrated die casting machine of Model Y, with a clamping force of 6000 tons. The die casting machine with the largest clamping force is a 9000 ton die casting machine specially built for the production of Cybertruck.

Source: IDRA, of course, these are the problems faced by the production side, in terms of after-sales, it is very obvious-the maintenance cost is also very high.

Especially after impact or scraping, maintenance needs to replace the whole part, which eventually leads to an increase in car repair costs and insurance rates. Therefore, it is more like a "one-shot sale" of parts, once rubbed, there will be the risk of "changing cars".

03, not a panacea, even if there are big problems in cost and after-sale, but for automobile companies, once large-scale production, its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages.

The basic principle of integrated die-casting technology is that the metal is heated and melted into liquid, then extruded and poured into the mold, and the parts that meet the requirements are obtained after cooling. Prior to this, Ford F150 was manufactured using integrated die-casting technology.

However, it was Tesla who really brought this technology into the market and carried it forward. And Tesla has also made a lot of innovation to it, which is also its contribution to the automotive industry, and provides an evolutionary direction for the manufacture of new energy vehicles.

Not long ago, even the stubborn Toyota unveiled its integrated body die-casting technology, which can produce 1/3 cars in just three minutes.

Toyota said the technology was aimed at further reducing production processes and costs to increase its profits in electric vehicles and to catch up with Tesla, which is expected to be used in all-electric vehicles launched in 2026.

Toyota said that after applying the all-in-one die-casting process, the rear of the body requires only a single part and a simple process, compared with about 86 different parts that were assembled in 33 separate processes. this series of complex processes will take several hours to complete.

Source: Toyota compared with the traditional manufacturing process, Toyota's integrated die-casting process has been significantly improved, but still lags behind Tesla.

In addition, with Tesla bringing integrated die-casting technology to China, not only new forces such as ideal, Xiaopeng, but also traditional brands such as Great Wall and Mercedes-Benz have begun to follow this technology. According to the estimates of Bank of China Securities, by 2025, the size of the integrated die casting market will reach 22 billion yuan, with a four-year compound growth rate of 133%.

It can be said that the advantages and disadvantages of integrated die casting technology are obvious, there are good and bad in the use, for example, it can not only reduce the cost, but also improve the safety of vehicles in collision accidents.

But this also increases the maintenance cost in the later stage, after Tesla Model Y's "sky-high maintenance fee" incident, it was due to the damage of integrated die castings.

It can be predicted that in order to reduce costs, it will be an irreversible trend for automobile enterprises to use integrated die-casting technology. But in practical application, integrated die-casting is not a panacea, after all, only suitable for themselves is the best.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: Super Electric Lab (ID:SuperEV-Lab). Author: Truman.

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