Focus: Gigapresses - the giant die casts reshaping car manufacturing

UBE

10/02/2023 07:00

By Giulio Piovaccari
       TRAVAGLIATO, Italy, Feb 10 (Reuters) - By replacing
around 60 welded components with a single module, gigantic
aluminium die casting machines made by the likes of Tesla
supplier IDRA Group are helping carmakers to simplify
manufacturing and cut costs by up to 40% in some areas.   
    Tesla  TSLA.O  has pioneered the use of massive casting
machines, also known as gigapresses, to make large single pieces
of vehicle underbodies, streamline production and reduce the
work of even robots.  
    This has helped it become the most profitable battery
electric vehicle (BEV) maker.
    Critics say the process poses quality and flexibility risks,
as a single flaw can compromise a whole module, and make fixing
more difficult if something goes wrong. 
    But with the industry struggling to preserve profit margins
amid surging raw materials prices, carmakers including Toyota
 7203.T , General Motors  GM.N , Hyundai  005380.KS , Volvo Cars
 VOLVCARb.ST  and Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio  9866.HK 
are turning to companies like IDRA for help.
    "The basic idea was to provide a technology that could
simplify the car production process," IDRA general manager
Riccardo Ferrario told Reuters in an interview at the company's
headquarters in Travagliato, northern Italy.
    Battery packs currently make up 25%-40% of the total cost of
BEVs.
    "You need to make the rest cost less," Ferrario said.
    Automakers using aluminium casting machines claim they can
reduce investments needed to build chassis - a vehicle's second
most expensive component after the engine - by 40%, and the
average cost of their parts by 30%, Ferrario said.    
    "It's a way to eventually make BEVs something for all
pockets," he said.
    IDRA, which was taken over by Chinese group LK Industries in
2008, has been developing gigapresses since 2016. Competitors of
IDRA and LK include Buhler Group in Europe, Ube Corp.  4208.T 
and Shibaura Machine  6104.T  in Japan, as well as Yizumi
 300415.SZ  and Haitian  1882.HK  in China.    
    GIGAPRESS 9,000
    Metal and plastic die casting has been largely used in
manufacturing, but its application to large aluminium
underbodies in carmaking is relatively new.
    The global aluminium die casting market was worth almost $73
billion last year and is projected to top $126 billion by 2032,
according to an AlixPartners analysis based on Apollo Reports
data.        
    Aluminium is prized for its light weight, and is also used
for other car parts including engines. The average content of
the metal in European produced cars rose 20% to 179 kilograms in
the three years to 2019, and is expected to increase to almost
200 kilograms by 2025, a study commissioned by lobby group
European Aluminium shows.
    IDRA's newest and biggest gigapress - the 9,000 - is the
size of a small house and produces a clamping force of over
9,000 tons.
    The company, which made 100 million euros ($108 million) in
revenues in 2021, does not disclose its customers. But after it
posted a video of the first Gigapress 9,000 ready for shipping,
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it was for his company's new
cybertruck.
    Tesla already operates gigapresses in all its facilities,
including in Gruenheide, near Berlin, where it says it can churn
out a Model Y in 10 hours - about three times faster than
electric cars built by competitors.
    Ferrario said IDRA had contracts with three automakers and
as many 'Tier 1' parts makers. South Korea's Hyundai Motor is
among them, sources familiar with the matter said.
    Ralf Bechmann of manufacturing consultant EFESO said the
benefits of die casting would push it "to be applied to an
increasing number of new models of BEV vehicles, also by other
manufacturers".
    Front and rear underbodies cast by gigapresses are now
combined with battery packs to form a three-piece chassis for
BEVs.
    "I bet 80% of automakers will use gigapresses by 2035, at
least for BEV cars based on new platforms," Ferrario said. "But
the real question is: will we need even bigger gigapresses?"
    Yet not all automakers are convinced, and EFESO's Bechmann
cautioned that large module die casting required product design
to be "super solid".
    "Fixing design flaws is much easier with a body made up of
several small parts rather than a single module," he said.
    After initially considering die casting for its upcoming
Trinity model, Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  has backtracked, while BMW
 BMWG.DE  has never expressed an interest.
    Ferrario said the auto industry tended to be conservative
and that no one liked upending established processes, but he
rejected idea that die casting posed a risk to jobs at
carmakers, noting body-making was already highly automated. 
    "The real issue will be with businesses supplying those
little parts replaced by our modules," he said. 
    ($1 = 0.9272 euros)
 (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))