The massive Giga Press machine was installed last year at Tesla’s Fremont factory. The machine is so big it had to be installed outside the factory, and a structure built around it to protect it from the elements.
Since then drone flyovers around the building have given us glimpses of the single-piece cast aluminum rear underbodies produced by the machine for the Model Y.
In a drone flyover of the California factory yesterday, Gabeincal was attempting to spot any clues for the rumoured Model S/X refresh. Instead his drone stumbled upon the Giga Press machine in action.
Thanks to a large opening in the roof of the building, we get to see what appears to be almost the entire process to make the rear underbody for the Model Y. There are likely other processes happening before the casting enters the area visible through the opening, but there is about 2 minutes between each time a casting is removed by a robotic arm.
That rate of production is evident later in the video, where we get to see stacks and stacks of the castings in the factory yard a short distance away.
The machines represent a giant leap in manufacturing efficiency. When the Model 3 was released its underbody featured over 70 parts. Tesla reduced that to two parts in the first Model Y’s, before moving to this single-piece casting, which was first spotted in a production vehicle last month.
Interestingly, just yesterday the first parts of another IDRA Giga Press machine were spotted being unloaded at Giga Texas.
Check out the full video below. The Giga Press machine appears about 5 minutes into the video.
h/t: Sawyer Merritt
