Earlier this month, an image of the Cybertruck rear underbody casting was leaked from Giga Texas. And it didn’t go unnoticed from the eyes of long-time automotive industry veteran and vehicle teardown expert Sandy Munro.
Munro took the chance to talk about this leaked image of the Cybertruck casting and give us an expert view of his observations.
This image of a half-body shell of a Tesla Cybertruck popped up on Twitter which was most probably taken randomly at Giga Texas as Tesla staff can be seen working underneath the truck’s body shell.
After analyzing the above photo, Sandy Munro said that this is not a single-piece Giga Casting of the Cybertruck nor the final design — it is a prototype casting.
According to Sandy’s observation, there are actually 5 components welded together to make this casting (two on each side and one at the bottom. Although it looks like a Giga Casting, it is made with a different method called “lost foam”, says Sandy.
After making a foam pattern, it is rammed up in the sand and then molten aluminum is poured into the pattern. The extremely hot molten aluminum melts the styrofoam and the shape of the casting is made, Sandy described the lost foam method.
The lost foam method is good for creating prototype castings such as the one we can see in the leaked Cyebrtruck development picture above.
A true Giga Casting does not have welds in it. The entire purpose of a Giga Cast is to eliminate as many welds as possible as we have seen in the case of the Tesla Model Y.
Since Aluminum cannot be welded to stainless steel (Cybertruck body), Munro thinks there is some aluminum under the body shell that these castings are welded to but it cannot be confirmed looking at this photo.
Tesla ordered a 9000-ton Giga Casting machine from IDRA to create Cybertruck underbody single-piece castings for the production environment.
The first 9000-ton Cybertruck Giga Casting machine was getting prepared to be shipped from Italy to Giga Texas as we reported in October. This machine might have landed in the United States but there is no evidence that it has been commissioned at Giga Texas yet.
This is the world’s largest Giga Casting machine and needs to be shipped in parts, therefore it might take some more time to enter the installation process at Tesla’s Cybertruck factory in Austin, Texas.
After tearing down Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, and Tesla Model S Plaid — Sandy Munro and his team of engineers intend to teardown a giant Tesla Semi truck. To purchase a Tesla Semi ($200,000+), MunroLive.com is selling stickers for $15 ($50 signed by Munro) to gather the required funding.
He urges his viewers, Tesla fans, and owners to buy the “Uncle Sandy Wants You” stickers so that he can bring you a fantastic Tesla Semi teardown video series.
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