Tesla opened Giga Berlin in March with the factory producing Model Y Long Range and Performance SUVs with a single piece structural rear casting.
Before the end of the year Tesla plans to update their manufacturing process in Germany and begin building Model Y with single piece front and rear castings paired with a structural battery pack.
Based on information received by Drive Tesla earlier this month, we expect these features to be used on a new Model Y Standard Range RWD, which according to our sources will begin production in Germany before the end of the year.
Tesla revealed the plans in their Q3 2022 shareholder deck published today, saying in the release that mass producing such large castings has never been done before in any industry. Except of course for their factories in Fremont and Shanghai.
The automaker says adding the single piece front castings will help greatly simplify their production process by eliminating more than 170 separate components.
Tesla makes it sound easy, but explains that the “aluminum needs to be injected into a die in about one-tenth of a blink of an eye, through a single point of entry, without solidifying or distorting.”
In their Q3 2022 update Tesla said Giga Berlin is experiencing a “strong production rate improvement,” highlighting their recent achievement of building 2,000 Model Ys in one week. They also explained the factory’s rate of production is in line with their expectations.
