China Market Insider China Sets Records in Gigacasting

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Asia Waypoint

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

China not only builds the most modern electric cars, but also produces them with the most advanced machinery in the industry. A good example of this is the rapid spread of gigacasting in the People's Republic.

The manufacturing process originally introduced by Tesla, in which very large parts are formed from a single cast, has taken China's car factories by storm.

The Chinese car manufacturer Dongfeng Motor has just installed the largest gigacasting machine on Earth. It has a clamping force of 17,600 short tons and is housed in a newly built factory hall covering around 538,200 square feet. Dongfeng Motor has also added a "smaller" sister machine with 11,000 short tons.

For comparison: Tesla started with a gigacasting machine with 6,600 short tons to manufacture the entire rear underbody of its Model Y in one piece. Machines of this size are still used by the company in its "Giga Factories" in Shanghai and Grünheide near Berlin, Germany.

The higher the clamping force of these machines, the larger the body parts that can be produced. This simplifies the production process. Fewer parts need to be procured and assembled. Manufacturing costs decrease. Additionally, according to car manufacturers, the stability of the vehicles increases, making them safer.

There are also disadvantages (more on that later), but in marketing, the aforementioned advantages can be excellently used to present one's cars as particularly modern and high-quality. Never before in the history of the manufacturing industry have machines, which previously always led rather inconspicuous lives behind closed factory doors, been thrust into the public spotlight as much as since the advent of gigacasting.

80 percent of all gigacasting machines on Earth are now installed in China or currently in the planning phase there. "Gigacasting has fundamentally changed vehicle production. The technology was initially advanced by Tesla in the USA, but today the epicenter of the gigacasting revolution is in China," writes the Swiss consulting firm Casting-Campus.

While Germany and other countries are still occupied with lengthy feasibility studies, evaluations by all kinds of committees, and extensive risk assessments, China is rolling up its sleeves and setting up one gigacasting machine after another.

Xiaomi, the recently entered manufacturer of electric cars, known for smartphones and household electronics, has developed its own gigacasting process with precise temperature and volume control. Xiaomi's very first car model, the SU7, was manufactured using a 10,000 short ton press.

Zeekr operates with a highly automated production line for gigacasting, including a machine with a clamping force of 7,900 short tons. The aluminum structure for the rear of the MPV "Zeekr 009" is one of the largest body parts to have gone into mass production so far.

"It eliminated 80 components and around 800 welding points, increased production efficiency by 60 percent, reduced weight by 16 percent, decreased deformation by 16 percent, and increased bending stiffness by 11 percent," writes the weekly newspaper Yazhou Zhoukan about gigacasting at Zeekr.

The electric car startup Xpeng uses gigacasting with 13,200 short tons of pressure to produce large parts of the body for its G6 and X9 models. Li Auto manufactures its first fully electric model, the Li Mega, with gigacasting technology. At NIO, a machine with a clamping force of 9,700 short tons is used, and for the NIO ET5, 54 different parts have been merged into one. The body of the Aito M9 is shaped on a 9,900 short tons press. BYD, the world's largest producer of electric and hybrid vehicles, operates with a 10,000 short ton gigacasting press.

And in Germany? Volkswagen has a gigacasting facility in Kassel with a clamping force of 4,400 tons. Earlier this year, the Wolfsburg-based (Germany) company also announced the construction of a development center for casting technologies in Kassel, Germany.

At Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin, half a dozen gigacasting machines are in operation. The supplier Handtmann in Biberach, Upper Swabia, has commissioned a "megacasting" facility for battery housings and body parts, a Bühler Carat 610. Otherwise, most attempts by OEMs and suppliers with gigacasting have so far been only pilot projects.

If gigacasting is the future of automotive manufacturing, then Germany is collectively sleeping through it.

Disadvantages of Gigacasting

The new technology does not only have advantages. This is openly discussed in the Chinese industry. Drivers who have an accident must expect significantly higher repair costs. The experience of a Tesla driver in Wuxi, who crashed into a wall while reversing, went viral on social media. For the repair of the damaged gigacast suspension strut, he was supposed to pay 200,000 yuan (equivalent to more than $27,800), almost as much as the entire Model Y, which had cost him 280,000 yuan.

For OEMs, the cost advantages are also put into perspective when various factors are taken into account. According to trade press reports, the throughput rate of parts from gigacasting is between 65 and 80 percent, significantly lower than that of traditional processes (around 98 percent).

"This means that with the same production of 100 parts, gigacasting parts have at least 18 more defective parts than stamped parts," reports the Chinese automotive newspaper Zhongguo Qiche Bao. Not only the purchase prices, but also the maintenance costs for the large machines are significantly higher than those of conventional systems.

This last point partially explains why the adoption of this groundbreaking new technology is happening so much faster in China than elsewhere. The high production volumes of electric cars enable large investments, which pay off more quickly.

China has been the largest producer of electric cars and hybrids for ten consecutive years and, just as long, their largest sales market. Last year, 12.88 million "New Energy Vehicles" or NEVs were built in China, and 12.86 million were sold in China. In the first nine months of this year, production volume increased by another 35.3 percent, according to statistics from the manufacturers' association CAAM.

The large production volumes in automotive mass manufacturing in China practically call for the use of new technologies like gigacasting, which bring such clear efficiency gains, cost reductions, and scaling opportunities.

All the criticism that can be leveled at gigacasting likely cannot outweigh the cost advantages in mass production and the argument of improved safety in car accidents. More stable car bodies save lives. For these two main reasons, the manufacturing method will very likely continue to gain traction.

However, it is not just numbers and rational arguments alone that can explain China's lead in electrification, intelligent driving, and now also in modern body manufacturing.

It is clear that China "quickly took the lead in this field," write the Swiss casting experts at Casting Campus. "What sets the country apart from others is not only the volumes but also the speed and the culture of innovation."

In China, new technologies are usually adopted faster than in Europe and then iteratively improved alongside mass production. This creates an advantage not only for car manufacturers but also for the upstream industry of gigacasting machine manufacturers.

Only one of the four largest suppliers of large machines for gigacasting over 6,600 short tons on the Chinese market comes from abroad: the Bühler Group from Switzerland. The other three, LK Technology, Yizumi, and Haitian Die Casting, are from China.

So the statement made above needs to be clarified. Yes, gigacasting has initiated a revolution in automotive manufacturing. No, this revolution is not global but limited to China.

Henrik Bork is Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a consulting agency specializing in China and based in Beijing.

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