Tesla has reached another major milestone by completing the first front casting for the Model Y at Giga Texas.
The revelation was shared on LinkedIn by Axel Turck, a die casting specialist from Germany. According to a translation of the post that accompanied the photos, Turck describes the first casting as a birth, congratulating all Tesla “obstectricians” for helping to create a massive 130kg (286lbs) casting from an IDRA “mother”.
Although he doesn’t provide any further details about the casting, it is clearly very different than the rear castings currently being produced at both Fremont and Giga Shanghai.
A comparison to an image from Tesla’s website clearly shows it to be a front casting for the Model Y. This could be the first casting that was completed at Giga Texas earlier this week.
Based on his comments that went along with the photo, the image was shared with Turck from a past associate who he only recently met again after they first met in 1991.
“I’m very happy about the response, I got the photo from someone I met for the first time in 1991 when an H-630 B machine was being set up. The second time I met him again at our company 4 weeks ago.”
Tesla first introduced a single-piece rear casting for the Model Y last year. The revolutionary process cuts down cost and production time by eliminating up to 70 parts down to a single piece. The next step on revolutionizing the way cars are made is to create this front casting, which will be joined to the rear casting by a structural battery pack.
The impact of this moment was not lost on Turck, who also said in his post that all German auto-manufacturers should be very afraid of Tesla.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article said the casting was made at Giga Berlin. In a later comment, Turck clarified the casting was actually from Giga Texas.
h/t:@MilMileBattery
