Volvo Cars will invest SEK 10 billion to prepare its oldest car plant for the electric car era, and part of that transformation will be to use one manufacturing trick used by EV rival, Tesla.
Casting major parts, Volvo says, will not only reduce vehicle weight, but will also reduce the complexity in the manufacturing process. It also cuts down on the overall environmental footprint across the manufacturing and supply chain networks. Tesla is already using a megacasting in its production. The EV carmaker’s die casting machines can produce two aluminum panels that replace 40 stamped and welded parts. All in all, it reduces by 40 percent the number parts that go into a body in white—and also reduces the number of costly welding robots as well as the floor space needed for them.