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☆ Ford, Hyundai turn to Italian casting machine maker IDRA
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The OL 9000 CS gigapress machine is pictured at the IDRA group plant in Travagliato, Italy, October 10, 2023. REUTERS/Giulio Piovaccari Acquire Licensing RightsTRAVAGLIATO, Italy, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Idra, an Italian aluminium casting machine maker and Tesla supplier (TSLA.O), has added Ford (F.N), Hyundai (005380.KS) and a European company to its customer base as more carmakers explore this manufacturing technique. The source said IDRA was also about to sign a supply contract for two 9,000 presses with a premium automaker in Europe, its first with a European group. Six gigapresses are now emerging as the standard for an annual production of 500,000 vehicles, the source added. IDRA has so far signed orders for 25 presses, with 21 already produced and shipped, including to leading 'Tier 1' parts makers.

Persons: Giulio Piovaccari, Tesla, gigapresses, IDRA Organizations: REUTERS, Hyundai, Ford, Thomson Locations: Travagliato, Italy, European, Travalgiato, Brescia, Europe, Austin, Texas

☆ Why are other automakers chasing Tesla's 'Gigacasting'?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here's a look at Gigacasting and how the innovation is forcing automakers to scramble to match Tesla:WHAT IS GIGACASTING? The Giga Press is an aluminium die-casting machine adopted by Tesla at its factories in the U.S., China and Germany. The house-sized machines are able to produce aluminium parts far bigger than anything used before in auto manufacturing. Toyota said it expected that using aluminium die-casting would eliminate dozens of sheet metal parts from assembly and reduce waste. The global aluminium die-casting market was worth almost $73 billion last year and is projected to top $126 billion by 2032, showed an AlixPartners analysis.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Tesla, Elon Musk, Zeekr, Kevin Krolicki, Christopher Cushing Organizations: REUTERS, Toyota, Giga Press, EVs, WHO, Industries, Buhler Group, HK, General Motors, Hyundai Motor, Volvo, EV, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S, China, Germany, Italy, Europe, Japan, Gothenburg, Sweden

☆ Geely's EV brand Zeekr jumps on the 'gigapress' bandwagon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Norihiko Shirouzu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoApril 27 (Reuters) - Geely's EV brand Zeekr is the latest to join a growing list of automakers that have turned to the "gigapress" die casting technique pioneered by Tesla to slash the cost of electric cars. "In the future, Zeekr will use giga-casting technology on more models," Jiang said. Metal and plastic die casting has long been used in manufacturing, but its application to large aluminium underbodies in carmaking is relatively new. The front and rear sections are then connected with large under-floor battery packs to form a three-piece EV chassis. 'MEGA-CASTING'Other automakers turning to large die casting include General Motors (GM.N), which is using the technology to help design its Cadillac Celestiq electric saloon.

☆ A Narrator Locked in Silence, Who Finds Solace in an Ancient Language
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Idra Novey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

This is a novel, above all, for readers drawn to considering language itself as a source of self-revelation. To my ear, with no knowledge of Korean, the collaboration did not noticeably alter the cadence of Han’s voice in English. Yet something about that voice seems less certain in this book, less trusting of its ability to convey subtext. Ample evidence emerges in this novel of the psychologically messier, more complex books Han is known for in the English-speaking world. In addition to her incisive writing about bodily responses to language, “Greek Lessons” contains some exceptionally poignant scenes about a mother’s growing estrangement from her child.

1 EV maker worldwide in 2022, but China's BYD (002594.SZ) and others are closing the gap fast, according to a Reuters analysis of global and regional EV sales data provided by EV-volumes.com. In fact, BYD passed Tesla in EV sales last year in the Asia-Pacific region, while the Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE) has been the EV leader in Europe since 2020. Reuters GraphicsThe most significant challenges to Tesla are coming from established automakers and a group of Chinese EV manufacturers. Tesla's vehicles offered features, such as the ability to navigate into a parking space or make rude sounds, that other vehicles lacked. IDRA, the Italian company that builds huge presses to form large one-piece castings that are the building blocks of Tesla vehicles, said it is now getting orders from other automakers.

☆ Gigapresses - the giant die casts reshaping car manufacturing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

GIGAPRESS 9,000Metal and plastic die casting has been largely used in manufacturing, but its application to large aluminium underbodies in carmaking is relatively new. The global aluminium die casting market was worth almost $73 billion last year and is projected to top $126 billion by 2032, according to an AlixPartners analysis based on Apollo Reports data. Ralf Bechmann of manufacturing consultant EFESO said the benefits of die casting would push it "to be applied to an increasing number of new models of BEV vehicles, also by other manufacturers". Yet not all automakers are convinced, and EFESO's Bechmann cautioned that large module die casting required product design to be "super solid". After initially considering die casting for its upcoming Trinity model, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has backtracked, while BMW (BMWG.DE) has never expressed an interest.

☆ As Tesla ignites an EV price war, suppliers brace for Musk seeking givebacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"It is never good for suppliers when (automakers) cut vehicle prices because that pressure rolls downhill," said Dan Sharkey, an attorney who represents suppliers to Tesla and other automakers. Tesla's cost-reduction efforts come after it aggressively cut vehicle prices last month, prompting U.S. rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) to follow suit. More price cuts could be painful in a sector where some suppliers are already struggling, industry officials said. Tesla could negotiate cost reductions with suppliers through "shared" efficiencies or by simply twisting the suppliers' arms and taking some of their profit away, a former Tesla executive told Reuters. "They will get a lot of pushback from suppliers to cut costs," said industry consultant Laurie Harbour, who works with suppliers.

That would mean running Tesla factories leaner with fewer materials in inventory, cutting shipping and logistics costs and negotiating lower prices for components, he said - putting Tesla's suppliers on notice. "My guess is if the recession is a serious one, and I think it probably will be but I hope it isn't, that would lead to meaningful decrease in almost all of our input costs," Musk said. Tesla's third-quarter profit per car sold was more than seven times higher than Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), for example. The company's average cost per vehicle, including all categories of its spending, was almost $44,000 in the fourth quarter. I think there's just a vast number of people that want to buy a Tesla but can't afford it," Musk said.

☆ Exclusive: Tesla readies revamped Model 3 with project 'Highland' -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A Tesla Model 3 sedan, its first car aimed at the mass market, is displayed during its launch in Hawthorne, California, U.S. March 31, 2016. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory will put the redesigned Model 3 into production in the third quarter of 2023, they said. CHANGE YOU CAN SEEThe redesign for the Model 3 builds on the revamp of the Model S -- Tesla’s premium EV sedan -- that was released last year. The Model 3, Tesla’s cheapest EV starting at just under $47,000 in the United States, had been the automaker’s best-seller but is being overtaken by the Model Y crossover. KEEP IT SIMPLEMusk has pushed a simplified approach to design and production at Tesla that the Highland project extends, said the people with knowledge of the development.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Tesla plans mass production start for Cybertruck at end of 2023-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla said last month that it was working on readying its Austin, Texas plant to build the new model with “early production” set to start in the middle of 2023. “We’re in the final lap for Cybertruck,” Musk told a conference call with financial analysts. CRACKED WINDOWSMusk introduced Cybertruck in a 2019 reveal where the vehicle’s designer cracked the vehicle’s supposedly unbreakable “armor glass” windows. The company has pushed back production timing three times since: from late 2021 to late 2022, then to early 2023 and most recently to the mid-2023 target for initial production. Musk said then the company had "more orders of the first Cybertrucks than we could possibly fulfill for three years after the start of production."

☆ Exclusive: Tesla plans mass production start for Cybertruck at end of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) aims to start mass production of its Cybertruck at the end of 2023, two years after the initial target for the long-awaited pickup truck Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled in 2019, two people with knowledge of the plans told Reuters. Tesla said last month that it was working on readying its Austin, Texas plant to build the new model with “early production” set to start in the middle of 2023. “We’re in the final lap for Cybertruck,” Musk told a conference call with financial analysts. The company has pushed back production timing three times since: from late 2021 to late 2022, then to early 2023 and most recently to the mid-2023 target for initial production. In January, Musk had cited shortages in sourcing components as the reason for pushing the launch of Cybertruck into 2023.

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