Gigacasting is a form of die-casting — pouring materials like molten aluminum into large molds to form parts. For example, the front and rear portions of the early Model 3 chassis each contained more than 70 parts, according to Tesla. Reducing weight ultimately means more range for the customer, and substituting one large megacast for dozens of stamped parts reduces labor and boosts production, he said. Severinson views repair as a solvable challenge: "There is a solution to repairing also a casted rear floor," he said. Burns and Volk say that might be a sign that the company is hitting some technical limits.

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Persons: Elon Musk, Shea Burns, AlixPartners, Tesla, Musk, Erik Severinson, Burns, Wolfram Volk, Volk, Lars Moravy Organizations: Toyota, Ford Motor, General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Volvo, Technical University of Munich, BMW, Volkswagen Locations: American, Germany