Tesla's gigacast greatly reduces parts, welds and vehicle production time
Tesla
New insights into Tesla's manufacturing innovations have emerged, suggesting the automaker is not just nearing but actively implementing groundbreaking advancements in its gigacasting technology. Reports from the Shanghai Securities News and posts from X.com user @zhongwen2005 unveil Tesla's successful adoption of an upgraded gigacasting process at its Shanghai Giga Factory, focusing primarily on the Model Y's rear bottom plate assembly system.
This revelation is a pivotal update to earlier reports, indicating that Tesla is realizing its commitment to unboxed manufacturing and is on the brink of revolutionizing vehicle production. The upgraded gigacasting technology allows the die-casting of almost the entire complex underbody of an electric vehicle in one piece, significantly reducing production costs and assembly components.
New Technology Now in Use
According to the new information, the application of this integrated die-casting technology has led to a remarkable 40% reduction in related production costs and over 10% weight savings compared to traditional methods. These advancements are especially pertinent as Tesla explores manufacturing possibilities for its forthcoming $25,000 car, which presents an ideal opportunity to deploy this one-piece casting innovation.
Tesla's pioneering approach, involving 3D printing, industrial sand, and the development of specialized alloys, is further fine-tuned with the introduction of version 2.0 of its integrated die-casting technology. The amalgamation of rapid prototyping, material innovation, and advanced casting techniques underscores Tesla's relentless pursuit of manufacturing excellence, setting the stage for a large-scale manufacturing evolution.
This strategic shift and technological progression are aligned with the insights shared in Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk, depicting a transition in Tesla's operational hubs. The Giga Texas facility emerges as a focal point for the development and perfection of this next-generation EV platform, with Giga Mexico anticipating the subsequent housing of the new technology.
The Competition is Playing Catch-up
As the electric vehicle market grows increasingly competitive, such innovations are crucial. The upgraded gigacasting technology places Tesla at the forefront of manufacturing efficiency and sets a precedent for other manufacturers. Toyota recently unveiled its own gigapress, and Chinese EV makers, including Xpeng and Geely's Zeekr, are adopting gigapressing technology to decrease vehicle weight and cut costs.
As Tesla continues to refine and implement its upgraded gigacasting technology, the company is not merely taking a step but making a significant leap toward redefining automotive manufacturing. The integration of this advanced technology at its Shanghai plant illustrates the tangible strides Tesla is making in realizing Elon Musk's vision of halving production costs and making electric vehicles more affordable and accessible.
The latest developments confirm that a transformative moment in EV manufacturing is not just on the horizon but actively unfolding. Tesla's commitment to innovation and the successful application of upgraded gigacasting technology underscore its position as a leader in the automotive industry, driving towards a future where electric vehicles are increasingly revolutionary and attainable.
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With Tesla’s first major expansion of the Robotaxi Geofence now complete and operational, they’ve been hard at work with validation in new locations - and some are quite the drive from the current Austin Geofence.
Validation fleet vehicles have been spotted operating in a wider perimeter around the city, from rural roads in the west end to the more complex area closer to the airport. Tesla mentioned during their earnings call that the Robotaxi has already completed 7,000 miles in Austin, and it will expand its area of operation to roughly 10 times what it is now. This lines up with the validation vehicles we’ve been tracking around Austin.
Based on the spread of the new sightings, the potential next geofence could cover a staggering 450 square miles - a tenfold increase from the current service area of roughly 42 square miles. You can check this out in our map below with the sightings we’re tracking.
If Tesla decides to expand into these new areas, it would represent a tenfold increase over their current geofence, matching Tesla’s statement. The new area would cover approximately 10% of the 4,500-square-mile Austin metropolitan area. If Tesla can offer Robotaxi services in that entire area, it would prove they can tackle just about any city in the United States.
From Urban Core to Rural Roads
The locations of the validation vehicles show a clear intent to move beyond the initial urban and suburban core and prepare the Robotaxi service for a much wider range of uses.
In the west, validation fleet vehicles have been spotted as far as Marble Falls - a much more rural environment that features different road types, higher speed limits, and potentially different challenges.
In the south, Tesla has been expanding towards Kyle, which is part of the growing Austin-San Antonio suburban corridor spanning Highway 35. San Antonio is only 80 miles (roughly a 90-minute drive) away, and could easily become part of the existing Robotaxi area if Tesla obtains regulatory approval there.
In the East, we haven’t spotted any new validation vehicles. This is likely because Tesla’s validation vehicles originate from Giga Texas, which is located East of Austin. We won’t really know if Tesla is expanding in this direction until they start pushing past Giga Texas and toward Houston.
Finally, there have been some validation vehicles spotted just North of the new expanded boundaries, meaning that Tesla isn’t done in that direction either. This direction consists of the largest suburban areas of Austin, which have so far not been serviced by any form of autonomous vehicle.
Rapid Scaling
This new, widespread validation effort confirms what we already know. Tesla is pushing for an intensive period of public data gathering and system testing in a new area, right before conducting geofence expansions. The sheer scale of this new validation zone tells us that Tesla isn’t taking this slowly - the next step is going to be a great leap instead, and they essentially confirmed this during this Q&A session on the recent call. The goal is clearly to bring the entire Austin Metropolitan area into the Robotaxi Network.
While the previous expansion showed off just how Tesla can scale the network, this new phase of validation testing is a demonstration of just how fast they can validate and expand their network. The move to validate across rural, suburban, and urban areas simultaneously shows their confidence in these new Robotaxi FSD builds.
Eventually, all these improvements from Robotaxi will make their way to customer FSD builds sometime in Q3 2025, so there is a lot to look forward to.
For years, the progress of Tesla’s FSD has been measured by smoother turns, better lane centering, and more confident unprotected left turns. But as the system matures, a new, more subtle form of intelligence is emerging - one that shifts its attention to the human nuances of navigating roads. A new video posted to X shows the most recent FSD build, V13.2.9, demonstrating this in a remarkable real-world scenario.
Toll Booth Magic
In the video, a Model Y running FSD pulls up to a toll booth and smoothly comes to a stop, allowing the driver to handle payment. The car waits patiently as the driver interacts with the attendant. Then, at the precise moment the toll booth operator finishes the transaction and says “Have a great day”, the vehicle starts moving, proceeding through the booth - all without any input from the driver.
If you notice, there’s no gate here at this toll booth. This interaction all happened naturally with FSD.
While the timing was perfect, the FSD wasn’t listening to the conversation for clues (maybe one day, with Grok?) The reality, as explained by Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI, is even more impressive.
It can see the transaction happening using the repeater & pillar cameras. Hence FSD proceeds on its own when the transaction is complete 😎
FSD is simply using the cameras on the side of the vehicle to watch the exchange between the driver and attendant. The neural network has been trained on enough data that it can visually recognize the conclusion of a transaction - the exchange of money or a card and the hands pulling away - and understands that this is the trigger to proceed.
The Bigger Picture
This capability is far more significant than just a simple party trick. FSD is gaining the ability to perceive and navigate a world built for humans in the most human-like fashion possible.
If FSD can learn what a completed toll transaction looks like, it’s an example of the countless other complex scenarios it’ll be able to handle in the future. This same visual understanding could be applied to navigating a fast-food drive-thru, interacting with a parking garage attendant, passing through a security checkpoint, or boarding a ferry or vehicle train — all things we thought that would come much later.
These human-focused interactions will eventually become even more useful, as FSD becomes ever more confident in responding to humans on the road, like when a police officer tells a vehicle to go a certain direction, or a construction worker flags you through a site. These are real-world events that happen every day, and it isn’t surprising to see FSD picking up on the subtleties and nuances of human interaction.
This isn’t a pre-programmed feature for a specific toll booth. It is an emergent capability of the end-to-end AI neural nets. By learning from millions of videos across billions of miles, FSD is beginning to build a true contextual understanding of the world. The best part - with a 10x context increase on its way, this understanding will grow rapidly and become far more powerful.
These small, subtle moments of intelligence are the necessary steps to a truly robust autonomous system that can handle the messy, unpredictable nature of human society.
