Tesla The company has reportedly scrapped plans for a new production method that would have involved stamping out a vehicle’s underbody in one piece, simplifying manufacturing and reducing production costs.
Reuters According to two sources familiar with the matter, Tesla will not pursue this further development of its gigacasting process.
With gigacasting, Tesla uses huge presses with thousands of tons of clamping pressure to print large portions of the car’s underbody, but it has never been used to make an entire underbody in one piece.
Instead, Reuters reports that the underbody of the Tesla Model Y and Cybertruck is currently punched out in three parts: two Gigacast parts at the front and back and a middle part made of aluminum and steel that houses the battery.
The news agency reported last September that Tesla would use a one-piece Gigacast underbody for its next-generation vehicles.
While switching to a one-piece underbody punching has the potential to reduce costs, Reuters Tesla has reportedly scrapped those plans to curb short-term spending following recent declines in sales and profitability and weakening global demand for electric vehicles.
Tesla has also cut costs by laying off more than 10 percent of its global workforce, including senior executives, in April; It was also reported this week that Tesla is disbanding its supercharger and new vehicle development teams.
Reuters reported in April that Tesla is also scrapping its upcoming entry-level model, expected to launch in the second half of 2025 and priced at $25,000, but sparing the accompanying robotaxi model.
But CEO Elon Musk later said Reuters “lied (again)” without clarifying what the outlet had allegedly done wrong, while chief designer Franz von Holzhausen warned journalists: “Don’t always believe what you read.”
In a first-quarter investor presentation, Mr. Musk said the brand would leverage “aspects of the new generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms” in its new electric vehicles.
This would allow the company to deliver these vehicles as early as late 2024 or early 2025.
“This update may result in a smaller cost reduction than previously expected, but allows us to grow our vehicle volumes in a prudent and more investment-efficient manner during uncertain times,” the automaker said in its presentation materials.
“This would help us fully utilize our current expected maximum capacity of almost three million vehicles and enable growth of more than 50 percent over production in 2023 before investing in new production lines.”
Tesla is expected to unveil its robot taxi on August 8th.
Last year, Tesla produced 1,845,985 vehicles worldwide, a new record for the brand and a 35 percent increase over the previous year.
However, Tesla reported 433,371 vehicles produced and just 386,810 sales in the first quarter of 2024, marking the lowest quarterly deliveries since 2022.
It also reported a nine percent decline in first-quarter sales, the largest year-over-year decline since 2012. Overall gross profit fell 18 percent.
Tesla has been feeling pressure from low-cost Chinese rivals, and repeated price cuts – intended to stay competitive – have eroded the company’s profits.
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