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Tesla casting machine supplier to build Giga Presses for Volvo

Credit: Volvo

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Tesla’s Giga Presses continue to catch on with other automakers shifting to electric vehicles (EVs), as the company’s casting machine supplier has just announced a new contract with Volvo.

Italian casting machine manufacturer IDRA announced a partnership with Volvo in a press release this week, with the company set to install two 9,000-ton Giga Presses at the automaker’s Košice, Slovakia factory. The casting machines, originally developed for Tesla, have also been adopted recently by Ford, Toyota and Volvo owner Geely.

“Idra’s Italian innovation has played a pivotal role in leading the revolution in automotive manufacturing,” IDRA wrote in the release. “Their expertise and forward-thinking approach have been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Giga Press technology. The collaboration with the brand exemplifies the company’s dedication to driving progress in the industry.”

According to a press release published last year by Volvo, The Košice plant is expected to have production equipment, likely including the Giga Presses, installed next year. In addition, the company says series production of the company’s electric vehicles (EVs) will begin in 2026, and it says the plant will be completely climate neutral upon its opening.

Eventually, Volvo says it hopes to produce around 250,000 cars per year at the Slovakia factory, providing several thousands of jobs.

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The news comes of IDRA supplying casting machines to Volvo comes after we reported last year that the automaker would be adopting Tesla’s Gigacasting techniques, particularly at the automaker’s Toslanda, Sweden factory that produces the Volvo XC90, XC60 and V90.

In a statement last year, Volvo vehicle platform architect Mikael Fermer called the shift to Tesla’s casting style the “biggest technology shift since we switched from wood to steel (for car bodies).”

Tesla was the first automaker to begin producing large aluminum die casts for a vehicle’s rear underbody, reducing parts and scrap and generally improving efficiency compared to stamping. Analysts have also suggested the casting technique may have contributed to Tesla’s profitability compared to other automakers.

France’s FEDA issues warning about giga press technology and its supposed risks

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla Model Y charges to bring strongest month in Australia in 2025

Tesla saw a strong month of sales in Australia, led by the dominating performance of the Model Y.

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla can thank the Model Y for bringing the company to its strongest monthly performance of the year in Australia.

In May, the Model Y accounted for 3,580 of the 3,897 total sales Tesla reported for the month in Australia. That’s a 9.3 percent increase from May 2024, while the Model Y had its best month since June 2024 with a 122.5 percent increase from the same month a year prior.

Additionally, it was the company’s best May in two years, when it sold 4,476 cars in May 2023.

It is a strong point in what has been a tough year for Tesla, but the difficulty can mostly be attributed to the switchover of production lines the company performed at each of its global production facilities.

It updated the Model Y earlier this year with a brand new front and rear fascia, as well as suspension improvements, and cabin modifications to provide a more comfortable ride.

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Tesla’s Country Manager for Australia, Thom Drew, spoke to Drive in April about the Model Y and its influence on the company’s performance in Australia.

Tesla Cybertruck needs changes before Australia entry, but no guarantees it will arrive

He said the company saw tremendous interest in the Launch Edition of the new Model Y, which featured premium badging and some other novelty improvements compared to the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive that is available already.

Drew said:

“When we launched orders back in January, we had an enormous response to the launch edition. We’ve only just started test drives in the last couple of weeks. The boat’s been slowly making its way around the country. And now we’re seeing that kind of second wave come through, and seeing a lot of interest. I think we had a record test drive week, last week, in our entire history. So yeah, [we’re] seeing some really strong interest.”

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Tesla is hoping to see improvements in sales performance across the globe, but it is primarily focused on the rollout of the Robotaxi platform, which is set for release on June 12.

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Elon Musk explains Tesla’s domestic battery strategy

Elon Musk responded to a new note from an analyst that highlighted Tesla’s battery strategy.

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Elon Musk giving YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee a tour of the Fremont factory. (Credit: MKBHD/YouTube)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained the automaker’s strategy for building batteries from top to bottom in a domestic setting as the company continues to alleviate its reliance on Chinese materials, something other companies are too dependent on.

With the Trump Administration, it is no secret that the prioritization of U.S.-built products, including sourcing most of the materials from American companies, is at the forefront of its strategy.

The goal is to become less dependent on foreign products, which would, in theory, bolster the U.S. economy by creating more jobs and having less reliance on foreign markets, especially China, to manufacture the key parts of things like cars and tech.

In a note from Alexander Potter, an analyst for the firm Piper Sandler, Tesla’s strategy regarding batteries specifically is broken down.

Potter says Tesla is “the only car company that is trying to source batteries, at scale, without relying on China.”

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He continues:

“Eventually, Tesla will be making its own cathode active materials, refining its own lithium, building its own anodes, coating its own electrodes, assembling its own cells, and selling its own cars; No other US company can make similar claims.”

Musk, who spent time within the Trump White House through his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said that Tesla is doing the “important” work of localizing supply chains as the risks that come with being too dependent on foreign entities could be detrimental to a company, especially one that utilizes many parts and supplies that are manufactured mostly in China.

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Tesla has done a lot of work to source and even manufacture its own batteries within the United States, a project that has been in progress for several years but will pay dividends in the end.

According to a 2023 Nikkei analysis, Tesla’s battery material suppliers were dominated by Chinese companies. At the time, a whopping 39 percent of the company’s cell materials came from Chinese companies.

This number is decreasing as it operates its own in-house cell and material production projects, like its lithium refinery in Texas.

It also wants to utilize battery manufacturers that have plans to build cells in the U.S.

Panasonic, for example, is building a facility in Kansas that will help Tesla utilize domestically-manufactured cells for its cars.

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Tesla stock: Morgan Stanley says eVTOL is calling Elon Musk for new chapter

Could Tesla dive into the eVTOL market? Morgan Stanley takes a look.

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Daniel Oberhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla shares are up nearly 20 percent in the past month, but that is not stopping the only trillion-dollar automaker from attracting all types of new potential sectors to disrupt, at least from an investor and analyst perspective.

Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas is not one to shy away from some ideas that many investors would consider far-fetched. In a recent note, Jonas brought up some interesting discussion regarding Tesla’s potential in the eVTOL industry, and how he believes CEO Elon Musk’s answer was not convincing enough to put it off altogether.

Tesla’s Elon Musk says electric planes would be ‘fun problem to work on’

Musk said that Tesla was “stretched pretty thin” when a question regarding a plane being developed came up. Jonas said:

“In our opinion, that’s a decidedly different type of answer. Is Tesla an aviation/defense-tech company in auto/consumer clothing?”

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Musk has been pretty clear about things that Tesla won’t do. Although he has not unequivocally denied aviation equipment, including planes and drones, as he has with things like motorcycles, it does not seem like something that is on Musk’s mind.

Instead, he has focused the vast majority of his time at Tesla on vehicle autonomy, AI, and robotics, things he sees as the future.

Tesla and China, Robotics, Pricing

Morgan Stanley’s note also discussed Tesla’s prowess in its various areas of expertise, how it will keep up with Chinese competitors, as there are several, and the race for affordable EVs in the country.

Tesla is the U.S.’s key to keeping up with China

“In our view, Tesla’s expertise in manufacturing, data collection, robotics/ physical AI, energy, supply chain, and infrastructure are more critical than ever before to put the US on an even footing with China in embodied AI,” Jonas writes.

It is no secret that Tesla is the leader in revolutionizing things. To generalize, the company has truly dipped its finger in all the various pies, but it is also looked at as a leader in tech, which is where Chinese companies truly have an advantage.

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Robotics and the ‘Humanoid Olympics’

Jonas mentioned China’s recent showcasing of robots running half marathons and competing in combat sports as “gamification of robotic innovation.”

Tesla could be at the forefront of the effort to launch something similar, as the analyst predicts the U.S. version could be called “Humanoid Ninja Warrior.”

Pricing

Tesla is set to launch affordable models before the end of Q2, leaving this month for the company to release some details.

While the pricing of those models remains in limbo with the $7,500 tax credit likely disappearing at the end of 2024, companies in China have been able to tap incredibly aggressive pricing models. Jonas, for example, brings up the BYD Seagull, which is priced at just about $8,000.

Tesla can tap into an incredibly broader market if it can manage to bring pricing to even below $30,000, which is where many hope the affordable models end up.

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During the Q3 2024 Earnings Call, Musk said that $30,000 is where it would be with the tax credit:

“Yeah. It will be like with incentive. So, 30K, which is kind of a key threshold.”

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