We already have talked about Hyundai Motor Group and their plans to introduce a Tesla-like Giga Casting system, to be called Hyper Casting. Accoding to the latest information from Reuters, Hyundai already bought Gigapress from Italian manufacturer Idra, the same company that supplies Tesla.
According to sources, IDRA is already testing a 9,000-ton Gigapresses that will be ship to Hyundai Motor Group, to be used only for R&D purposes. Hyundai’s plans is to make its own Gigapress. Hyundai Motor Company is already in the process of introducing a giga casting method called ‘Hyper Casting’.
Hyundai Motor Company decided to build its own casting, processing, and assembly production plant to start mass production in 2026. The plan is to begin construction next year. Candidate sites include existing idle land in the powertrain sector at Ulsan factory. Hyundai and Kia recently applied to the Korean Intellectual Property Office for trademark registration under the name ‘Hyper Casting’
“Hyper Casting” is known to be a method that benchmarks Tesla’s ‘Giga-casting’. Giga-casting is a method of casting the entire car body by casting a special aluminum alloy plate at once using an ultra-large press machine (Giga Press, made by Italian company Idra) that can apply a force of 6,000 to 9,000 tons. Production costs can be significantly reduced.
The process can be simplified compared to the existing method of making a car body by drilling thousands of holes in about 70 steel plates and assembling and welding them one by one. Tesla is known to have significantly increased production speed and reduced costs by about 30% using this method, which was first introduced in 2020.
It is also advantageous to improve the performance of electric vehicles through weight reduction. Lowering the curb weight can increase fuel efficiency and increase driving range. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo are also preparing to introduce similar processes.
