Is the "sky-high maintenance cost" behind Tesla's integrated die-casting process? Officially, it is "safer", and experts: it is "one-time sale"

A huge machine weighing 410 tons "boomed", which simplified more than 70 parts and components required for stamping and welding in traditional automobile production into one, and integrated die-casting molding was completed in less than two minutes.

Two years ago, Tesla introduced the integrated die-casting concept into China and took the lead in landing on the Model Y. "At present, the integrated die-casting technology process is adopted for the manufacturing of Model Y rear floor. Compared with the traditional manufacturing process, when the model Y rear floor using the integrated die-casting technology encounters a collision, there will be no situations where the body will be torn due to the existence of welding spots and the impact of the weld, which can improve the safety of the vehicle." On March 14, the relevant staff of Tesla said in an interview with the reporter of the Daily Economic News.

Nevertheless, Tesla's integrated die-casting process has also been questioned by many consumers. Some netizens said that Tesla's integrated die-casting technology has become a people-oriented "curse" and has greatly increased the cost of car repair and insurance rates. More netizens roast that "the price reduction of Tesla seems to benefit consumers, but they do not know that the integrated die-casting technology may lead to the sky high maintenance cost of replacing the whole rear body after a 'slight' collision." "Careless scratching is equivalent to changing the car."

?

In this regard, the relevant after-sales staff of Tesla told the reporter that the general minor accident and minor scratch would not cause the damage of the base plate after the integrated die casting, except for the major accident of high-speed collision. "Once the integrated die-cast rear floor needs to be replaced, it must be a major accident. At this time, the first thing to consider is the safety of passengers on the vehicle, rather than the maintenance cost of the vehicle." The relevant after-sales staff of Tesla said.

Song Jian, a professor of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University, said in an interview that the integrated die-casting technology is a good manufacturing process, which can reduce many complex links of the traditional manufacturing process, and has the advantages of reducing costs, reducing body weight and increasing the endurance of new energy vehicles. "However, the integrated die-casting parts also have the problem of poor repairability. Once the parts are damaged, they must be replaced with new parts. The maintenance cost is higher than that of the parts manufactured by traditional technology. It is a" one-shot sale "part," Song Jian said.

1.Model Y is equivalent to changing cars?

Tesla: the final loss assessment fee of the accident vehicle is 110000 yuan

In fact, netizens' ridicule of Tesla's sky-high maintenance costs originated from an accidental collision "accident" in February last year. At that time, an owner of Model Y with Jiangsu license plate hit a corner when reversing, causing damage to the rear body of the vehicle, and was told by Tesla claims staff that "the rear shock absorber bag was damaged, and the maintenance cost was nearly 200000 yuan." The owner then roast that "a new car is only 280000 yuan, so it is better to scrap it." This also caused netizens to roast about Tesla Model Y that "scratching is equivalent to changing cars".

?

?

"After the accident, the body of the vehicle was seriously deformed, and the rear floor was very likely to be damaged, but the possibility of repair was very small." After seeing the photos related to the accident, Hu Qinwen, an automobile professional maintenance technician, told the reporter, "The crash was so serious that if the vehicle was to be repaired, it would have to be disassembled and overhauled. In this way, the overall maintenance cost might be more expensive than assembling a new Model Y."

A technician from a traditional automobile enterprise who didn't want to be named also told the reporter that the vehicle parts using integrated die-casting technology, like "toys" made by molds, have no sub-parts. Once they are damaged, they need to be replaced, and the maintenance costs are relatively high.

Hu Qinwen further explained that the rear floor of the vehicle adopting the integrated die-casting process is a complete part without traditional welding points. Once it is damaged, it is impossible to simply replace one or one damaged part for maintenance, and it must be replaced as a whole. In this way, the maintenance cost is higher than the traditional way of replacing a single part, and the labor cost is also high. "If the rear floor is damaged, it is generally not recommended to repair it," Hu Qinwen told reporters.

The relevant after-sales staff of Tesla said that although the maintenance cost of the damaged model Y integrated die-casting rear floor is indeed higher than that of the traditional process manufacturing rear floor, this part of the cost pressure will not be transferred to the car owner. "In the event of such an accident, the insurance company will be responsible for the after-sales maintenance costs, and the car owners need not worry. Unless the car owners have not purchased insurance," said the relevant after-sales staff of Tesla.

The reporter learned from Tesla's official that on March 15 last year, Tesla finally issued a loss assessment fee of about 110000 yuan for the above-mentioned accident vehicle. "The accident car is not simply a broken shock absorber package, but the whole rear part of the car is damaged. The overall maintenance cost is about 110000 yuan, not nearly 200000 yuan as rumored by the outside world." A Tesla insider told the reporter that after evaluation, the insurance company finally lost the accident car, and the accident car belongs to the insurance company, and the compensation has been paid to the owner.

"After the accident, the subsequent maintenance cost of the vehicle will be borne by the insurance company. Finally, the insurance company will make a final assessment based on the loss order issued by the vehicle enterprise for after-sales maintenance, and choose to repair or scrap. If the insurance company finds that the maintenance cost exceeds the original price of the accident vehicle after the assessment, it will usually choose to take the total loss to compensate the owner." Hu Qinwen said.

According to Shen Meng, the executive director of Xiangsong Capital, the use of integrated die-casting technology is a "double-edged sword". "On the one hand, the strength of the integrally formed parts is better than the assembly structure, which can ensure the safety of the personnel in the vehicle in the event of a collision; on the other hand, once damaged, the whole part needs to be replaced, which requires a higher cost." Shen Meng told reporters.

2.High threshold of integrated die casting technology

Capital is still waiting

As early as September 2020, Tesla CEO Musk announced at the battery day press conference that Tesla would use the integrated die-cast aluminum alloy to manufacture the rear floor assembly of Model Y, which could reduce the weight of the lower body assembly by 30% and the manufacturing cost by 40%. By 2021, Tesla showed its integrated die-casting chassis on the opening day of the Berlin factory, and announced that it would replace the lower body assembly composed of 370 parts with 2-3 large die-casting parts, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost by 40%, reducing the weight by 10%, and increasing the range by 14%.

?

According to Musk's plan, Tesla will integrate 9 parts of the car body through integrated die-casting technology in the future. "As a global automobile enterprise, Tesla's production and manufacturing bases are not only distributed in China, but also in the United States, Mexico and other places. For this reason, it needs to face the key problems of low efficiency in the supply chain, logistics and transportation, manufacturing personnel, and other key issues. The rapid 'boarding' of the integrated die-casting manufacturing process can greatly simplify the complexity of the supply chain and process sequence, thus improving the manufacturing efficiency and achieving the purpose of reducing costs and increasing efficiency." The above-mentioned technical personnel of traditional automobile enterprises who did not want to be named said that the biggest advantage of integrated die-casting technology in automobile manufacturing process is to simplify the complexity of supply chain, reduce manufacturing processes, reduce production costs and reduce vehicle weight.

However, up to now, only a small number of automobile enterprises are using the integrated die-casting technology. In this regard, Shen Meng believes that this technology seems simple, but behind it, there are very high requirements for the comprehensive technological strength of enterprises. For example, not all aluminum materials can be integrated by die casting, and the car body structure must be re-optimized for integrated molding. "The main reason why Tesla can adopt this technology is that it has been independently researching and developing relevant materials and has conducted in-depth research on the vehicle body structure design. The integrated die-casting parts can not be produced by any enterprise buying a die-casting machine," said Shen Meng.

The above-mentioned technical personnel of traditional automobile enterprises who do not want to be named also believe that the key reason why Tesla's integrated die-casting technology can "get on the car" is that it has carried out corresponding research and breakthroughs in design, die-casting materials and other aspects simultaneously, and finally realized on Model Y.

Our electric vehicle chargers?can be adapted to Tesla, BYD, BMW, Toyota, Xiaopeng, Ideal, Weilai and other models. For more information, please visit our website:www.evpine.com