Report: Tesla & IDRA Planning Massive Giga Press For Compact Car

The 12,000-ton diecasting machine should be able to cast the entire $25,000 car in one piece.

idra giga press

Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Oct 15, 2021 at 9:17am ET

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It seems the 8,000-ton Giga Press Tesla plans on using to cast the Cybertruck may not be the most powerful machine the company plans to acquire from IDRA. Tesla reportedly already started casting the Model Y in two large pieces using a 6,000-ton Giga Press, which is an industry first. However, new reports suggest a 12,000-ton Giga Press is in the works, and it might be able to cast the upcoming $25,000 Tesla compact car in a single piece.

We won't say we know much about diecasting machines, but we have learned from our readers, as well as people more familiar with the technology, that these machines don't weigh in at 6,000, 8,000, or 12,000 tons. Rather, that number refers to their capability.

As we mentioned earlier this week, juicy morsels of Tesla news are still slowly coming out since the big party at the brand's upcoming Gigafactory in Berlin. The "county fair" was packed with people, rides, food, fun, and games. And, while all of that is interesting, what's more interesting are the details that have come from the factory tours, Musk's comments, and other conversations among Tesla fans, owners, and executives.

Some of the tidbits of news from the Tesla party in Berlin have been reported on Twitter by Alex Voigt, who also runs a YouTube channel. On that channel, he has published a series of videos related to a tour of Tesla's Gigafactory in Germany. Voigt recently tweeted:

Voigt admits, much like us, he doesn't know a ton about Giga Press machines, but he's been keeping very close tabs on what Tesla is doing, not only in Germany but also Austin, Texas. As soon as he sent out the tweet and posted the video, others got involved in the speculation.

What do you think?

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There's a lot to take in and digest here, especially if you go back and watch Parts 1 and 2. We really have no idea what to expect, but we've been fascinated by Voigt's coverage and findings. Check out the video and then let us know what you make of all this.

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Rumor: Tesla China Already Built First $25K Compact EV Prototype

We've also included Voigt's first two Tesla German Gigafactory tour videos below. To get the entire picture, it helps to watch all three, though the second video is much more important than the first. Voigt has said he may soon publish a follow-up to the third video.