Tesla revolutionized the auto manufacturing process by building the Model Y with single-piece front and rear underbodies made from their massive die casting machines known as the Giga Press.
Now Volkswagen is trying their hand at the technique, recently unveiling their first attempt at a megacast that will eventually underpin their Trinity electric vehicle (EV).
The milestone event took place recently at their plant in Kassel, Germany and was shared by Mirco Wöllenstein, a Foundry Manager at Volkswagen.
According to Wöllenstein, the megacast replaces 30 individual parts and saves about 10kg (22lbs) in weight compared to their typical manufacturing techniques.
VW’s machine uses 4,400 tons of compressive force, and according to Wöllenstein was able to complete the megacast in 2 minutes.
Without naming names, Wöllenstein compared those numbers with that of “the competition”, which he said required 6,100 tons of force and “longer production times.”
He also shared a number of pictures of the production process and the finished product.
While this is just their first megacast, VW will be refining and improving upon the process until it becomes part of their Trinity EV, which is set to launch in 2026.
VW will be building a $2.2 billion EV-only manufacturing plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, specifically for Trinity.
Trinity will be the first EV to be built on their new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), and platform which will eventually underpin more than 40 million EVs.
Tesla Giga Texas completes first Giga Press Model Y front casting [Update]
