Tesla is about to take delivery of another 9 ton (8.2 metric tonne) press at its giga factory in Austin Texas.
The largest of it kind in the world, the new press is the second one to be delivered to Tesla’s Texas factory after the first one was delivered in January. The two presses, which are slightly bigger than Tesla’s presses in Berlin and Shanghai are speculated to be used in the production of Tesla’s Cybertruck which the company says it will begin production of this year.
You can get a sense of the scale of the press in this assembly time lapse by the makers of the press IDRA Group.
Electrek confirmed the delivery and posted images of the bill of lading saying “Today, we can confirm that the new press is indeed for Tesla and that it has arrived in Texas. Cybertruck Forum user Greggrtruck found the bill of lading that confirms Tesla is the client and that it has arrived at the port of Houston:”
The shipping documents show that the 26.7 tonne machine has travelled all the IDRA’s Italian factory on its way to Austin.
The gigantic presses enable Tesla to produce its revolutionary single-body castings which mean they can produce the entire body of the vehicle with just a few castings instead of welding hundreds of parts together the traditional way.
The castings are so large that Tesla’s materials engineers had to develop a new aluminium alloy to enable the molten aluminium to flow into all the intricate areas of the die before setting.
Giga presses are already in operation at Tesla’s Shanghai and Berlin factories however the two new presses at Austin are even bigger to enable them to produce the large parts needed for the Cybertruck.
You can watch one of the huge castings being removed by a robot in the Berlin factory fly through (starts at 0:55)
Tesla has said it will begin the Cybertruck production this year but high volume production is not expected until 2024.
Daniel Bleakley is a clean technology researcher and advocate with a background in engineering and business. He has a strong interest in electric vehicles, renewable energy, manufacturing and public policy.