Giga Casting Evolution - Rivian Should Take Note

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

I would take everything Munro says with a grain of salt. He doesn't even have an engineering degree.

The only thing cast parts are good for are lower cost. They have inferior mechanical properties to forming operations such as bending or forging. Which means you need more material just to have the same strength. Gigapress is all marketing.

Elon, some of the world’s best engineers, and Munro say it’s genius but Aubs on an Internet forum says it’s just marketing garbage, so I stand with Aubs.

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[Aubs]

Elon, some of the world’s best engineers, and Munro say it’s genius but Aubs on an Internet forum says it’s just marketing garbage, so I stand with Aubs.

Yes Tesla is so well known for their mechanical build quality, everyone else should be doing it. Remind me, is "gigapressing" a technical term or a marketing term?

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Remind me, is "gigapressing" a technical term or a marketing term?

appears to be a trademark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Press

 

[crashmtb]

Elon, some of the world’s best engineers, and Munro say it’s genius but Aubs on an Internet forum says it’s just marketing garbage, so I stand with Aubs.

Elon is every middle manager if they were a billionaire.

Everything Tesla has accomplished is despite him.

gigapress™️ By Idra™️ is a great feat of engineering and a delight to process nerds everywhere, sure.

absolute minimal part count isn’t everything, even if the shortest BOM possible makes Munro hard.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Without Elon there would be no R1..............

 

[MNLightning]

I would take everything Munro says with a grain of salt. He doesn't even have an engineering degree.

The only thing cast parts are good for are lower cost. They have inferior mechanical properties to forming operations such as bending or forging. Which means you need more material just to have the same strength. Gigapress is all marketing.

After reading your post Should I feel jilted by Rivian for not using “Superior “ stamped steel suspension parts. Perhaps you should do a little googling about the pros and cons of die casting and steel stamping. The metallurgy developed to make this work is the genius of it.

 

[MNLightning]

Penny wise pound foolish and all that. Munro et Al don’t really seem to care one tiny bit about longevity or serviceability.


part of DFMA is balancing mfg efficiencies with serviceability….if you are at all concerned about the lifecycle of the thing.

otherwise…I suppose throw the whole thing out is more efficient than being able to fix it 🫠

Help me understand why you think they “don’t seem to care one tiny bit about longevity or serviceability “ I’ll agree that using a die cast part this large is to new to have a track record for or against atm. But I think industry will pursue movement in the direction of this technology unless a catastrophic flaw is discovered.

 

[ads75]

Great breakdown by Sandy on the evolution and why the “cost of quality” is better for the company…and us as shareholders/customers… to go the full casting route instead of shingled stamping like is done on R1’s today.

Will be interesting to see if Rivian takes note, especially after the R1T teardown comments from Munro.

Elon, some of the world’s best engineers, and Munro say it’s genius but Aubs on an Internet forum says it’s just marketing garbage, so I stand with Aubs.

If only car manufacturing was as easy as watching a YouTube video and then hoping the guy with masters in mechanical engineering from MIT gets a chance to watch the same video.

 

[3l3c7r1c]

One issue debated since Tesla introduced Mega Castings is repairability. But, in reality... for the last several years now insurance co's policies have been steadily trending towards "if the airbags deploy... it's totaled". Any collision severe enough to damage the main castings would likely cause airbag deployment resulting in a "totaled" vehicle in any case. No need to repair castings on a totaled vehicle, part it out as scrappers have been doing for decades.

totaled vehicle doesn’t mean the value is zero, insurance still recoup some cost by selling it. I have been watching the series and looks like you can’t even extract the battery from a giga cast Tesla vehicle. This higher loss will be passed to the consumer as insurance premium. It’s probably saving money for Tesla but might not be an overall saving for the customers.

 

[tk21]

If only car manufacturing was as easy as watching a YouTube video and then hoping the guy with masters in mechanical engineering from MIT gets a chance to watch the same video.

I’m pretty sure Munro’s manufacturing consulting business and expertise predates YouTube…it’s not like the two sister social media influencers that debuted the R1S video are making this suggestion.

I’ll take my chance at this source is knowledgeable.

 

[Zoidz]

The Gigapress is impressive technology. But it does not mean Rivian is falling behind and needs to use it, now or in the future.

 

[crashmtb]

Help me understand why you think they “don’t seem to care one tiny bit about longevity or serviceability “ I’ll agree that using a die cast part this large is to new to have a track record for or against atm. But I think industry will pursue movement in the direction of this technology unless a catastrophic flaw is discovered.

I was referring to Munro’s fixation on part count reduction. They don’t really talk about serviceability, which is an important consideration in actual total cost.

 

[SASSquatch]

Rivian has a lot of costs to recoup before they start making major changes to the R1 platform. Maybe they’d consider it for the R2 but I think Tesla also owns a lot of patents on this process.

The problem with giga casting is that in the event of structural damage, guess what, you are having to replace the ENTIRE casting.

If you've cast the entire structural body of the vehicle like a diecast hotwheel, you have now totaled your car.

And guess what that does to insurance rates for vehicles that are designed that way? Do you think an insurer would want to charge owners of these vehicles more or less money than non-cast vehicles?

Casting saves the manufacturer time, labor, and cost but in the long run there are implications for the consumer and they aren't always positive.

I'm good with RIVIAN not casting their vehicles. Casting smaller sections, I'd be OK with - but what Tesla is doing - not so much.

Remember, TESLA is the best in the world at cutting costs. That doesn't always translate to a better consumer experience.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

The problem with giga casting is that in the event of structural damage, guess what, you are having to replace the ENTIRE casting.

If you've cast the entire structural body of the vehicle like a diecast hotwheel, you have now totaled your car.

And guess what that does to insurance rates for vehicles that are designed that way? Do you think an insurer would want to charge owners of these vehicles more or less money than non-cast vehicles?

Casting saves the manufacturer time, labor, and cost but in the long run there are implications for the consumer and they aren't always positive.

I'm good with RIVIAN not casting their vehicles. Casting smaller sections, I'd be OK with - but what Tesla is doing - not so much.

Remember, TESLA is the best in the world at cutting costs. That doesn't always translate to a better consumer experience.

Totally agree. I’m also curious to see what crash testing shows on the new Model 3 and Ys that Tesla just started building with this process.

 

[R1Sky Business]

Rivian could not justify the large capital expense at this tIme. Maybe for R1T 2.0 but that’s years away.

Probably the plan...

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