3 ms·

It's not clear what purpose this cast part serves. I assume the body of a Tesla is formed/stamped from sheets of steel like most modern cars and that this provi

It's not clear what purpose this cast part serves. I assume the body of a Tesla is formed/stamped from sheets of steel like most modern cars and that this provides most of the structure. It looks like this part is near the top of the hood, so is it structural? Is it just holding a bunch of other parts in place? Hard to tell.

ceejayoz 3y ago
You assume incorrectly. https://electrek.co/2021/10/05/tesla-building-model-y-bodies-single-front-rear-castings-manufacturing-first/ https://electrek.co/2021/10/05/tesla-building-model-y-bodies... > In an auto manufacturing first, Tesla has started building Model Y bodies with two giant single casting pieces for the front and back of the electric SUV.
- jeffbee 3y ago
  Anyone should be highly skeptical whenever Tesla adopts an "industry first". There may be good reasons the industry doesn't do that. It may be something that an experienced engineer would advise against.
  - chrisco255 3y ago
    It's mostly just a lack of willingness to spend on large casting machines. Tesla is famous for purchasing the largest presses: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Press https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Press Tesla is partly empowered to do this because electric vehicles are mechanically simpler than ICEs, and the batteries themselves also are made to be structural components. There's nothing fundamentally unsound about pressed aluminum.
    - jeffbee 3y ago
      The casting flaw in the OP would never have passed through a working quality control system, which would be automated radiography. You don't just buy casting machines, you have to develop the organizational doctrine to put them into practice.
    - Fluorescence 3y ago
      One of the reasons it isn't done is the QC problem. If you have a 10% rejection rate on 20 parts, 18 parts will pass. If they were all one mega-part, the whole casting has to be rejected. You then add in repairability issues and no flexibility to accommodate other types of manufacturing variability (errors, fit) and your savings from a single casting can become a big deficit instead. Sadly the reason this bad casting was shipped to a customer is probably because they are not achieving the desired pass rate so they knowingly wave through defective castings.
stetrain 3y ago
It’s basically the front subframe. https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tesla-model-y-megacast-gigafactory-berlin--scaled.jpg https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tesla-m... https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-front-megacast-giga-texas-first-photo/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-front-megacast-giga-...
- Cockbrand 3y ago
  Wow, that's indeed a seriously giant cast! How does it get repaired in case of a crash? Can one just cut off a damaged part of it and weld on a replacement, like with sheet metal?
  - rootusrootus 3y ago
    Looking at the picture, it appears there is a boxed steel frame underneath. Probably in case of damage you just take it all apart and replace the entire cast aluminum piece.

ceejayoz 3y ago

You assume incorrectly. https://electrek.co/2021/10/05/tesla-building-model-y-bodies-single-front-rear-castings-manufacturing-first/ https://electrek.co/2021/10/05/tesla-building-model-y-bodies... > In an auto manufacturing first, Tesla has started building Model Y bodies with two giant single casting pieces for the front and back of the electric SUV.

jeffbee 3y ago
Anyone should be highly skeptical whenever Tesla adopts an "industry first". There may be good reasons the industry doesn't do that. It may be something that an experienced engineer would advise against.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  It's mostly just a lack of willingness to spend on large casting machines. Tesla is famous for purchasing the largest presses: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Press https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Press Tesla is partly empowered to do this because electric vehicles are mechanically simpler than ICEs, and the batteries themselves also are made to be structural components. There's nothing fundamentally unsound about pressed aluminum.
  - jeffbee 3y ago
    The casting flaw in the OP would never have passed through a working quality control system, which would be automated radiography. You don't just buy casting machines, you have to develop the organizational doctrine to put them into practice.
  - Fluorescence 3y ago
    One of the reasons it isn't done is the QC problem. If you have a 10% rejection rate on 20 parts, 18 parts will pass. If they were all one mega-part, the whole casting has to be rejected. You then add in repairability issues and no flexibility to accommodate other types of manufacturing variability (errors, fit) and your savings from a single casting can become a big deficit instead. Sadly the reason this bad casting was shipped to a customer is probably because they are not achieving the desired pass rate so they knowingly wave through defective castings.

stetrain 3y ago

It’s basically the front subframe. https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tesla-model-y-megacast-gigafactory-berlin--scaled.jpg https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tesla-m... https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-front-megacast-giga-texas-first-photo/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-front-megacast-giga-...

Cockbrand 3y ago
Wow, that's indeed a seriously giant cast! How does it get repaired in case of a crash? Can one just cut off a damaged part of it and weld on a replacement, like with sheet metal?
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  Looking at the picture, it appears there is a boxed steel frame underneath. Probably in case of damage you just take it all apart and replace the entire cast aluminum piece.