Weekly Gigacasting News 6

2/9/2024 - 8/9/2024

Luca Greco
September 08, 2024

Dongfeng Motor will Install a 16,000 T Giga Press

At the recent 20th China Automotive Industry Development forum in Tianjin, You Zheng, Deputy General Manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, highlighted a pivotal shift in the new energy vehicle sector.

Following the footsteps of Guangdong Hongtu, Xpeng’s Gigacasting supplier, Dongfeng Motor is set to introduce the largest existing die casting machine in the world, made by LK Machinery, a 16,000 ton Giga Press.

Dongfeng Motor is building a factory in Wuhan to accommodate six Giga Press production lines and is set to be completed in 2025 with different stages entering production one at a time. The first phase includes 2 sets of 10,000 ton die casting island and have an expected production capacity of 200,000 castings/year.

The next phases will se the introduction of at least one, probably more, 16,000 ton die casting island for the production of “ultra large body chassis parts”.

Dongfeng Motor is the 3rd company to announce the use of a 16,000 ton Giga Press. Xpeng thanks to Guangdong Hongtu was the first, then Chery Auto but with dual injection system technology and now Dongfeng. All the orders were placed to LK Machinery.

Source: TEDA

Volvo’s Megacastings

In the recent Capital Market Day held by Volvo, the Swedish The company laid out their plan for the electrification of its future models, among the information discussed, the plans for reducing the complexity and costs of the chassis that will use megacasting to achieve these results. The slide:

“Our Torslanda plant is introducing mega casting, another example of a strategic investment we have made into our future.

With mega casting, large aluminium casted parts replace in some cases, more than 100 smaller parts. By using fewer parts we can lower our costs, reduce manufacturing complexity, improve sustainability across our supply chain and create lighter cars. Landed cost for a mega cast structure is up to 35% below a mixed steel-aluminium structure.

Time from raw material to ready product is reduced from months to days. And the upstream value chain is replaced by raw material input directly to our plants, which gives us greater control over the costs.

This rollout at Torslanda provides a great base for scaling - both for other mega casted parts and for how we use mega casting in our other plants around the globe. We will add mega casting capabilities to our new Košice plant in Slovakia and in the Daqing plant in China.”

Talking about Košice, Volvo’s Slovakian factory, my firend Radovan Skokan visited the construction site of the plant which recently entered its second phase. You can see some of the images in the gallery below, as well as links to the videos he took. Košice plant slide:

Our new fully-electric state-of-the art car factory in Kosice, Slovakia, will bring other new opportunities as well.

On a per-vehicle basis, it is expected to use 30% less energy in production, 40% less manufacturing waste and 40% less water usage, compared to our current operations.

It will also use 100% climate neutral energy in the manufacturing operations. Our Kosice plant will also introduce new efficiencies in painting and stamping.

All of our plants stand to gain from these advances in our manufacturing set-up as we share knowledge across our teams and strive towards our efficiency and sustainability ambitions.

We ’re proud of our global footprint and unique in-house capabilities. But we also know that collaborators win in such unpredictable times.

From Volvo Capital Markets Day 2024

New Vehicle adopts Gigacastings

Lynk & Co's first fully electric car, the Z10, is a significant step forward for the brand, and it likely incorporates advanced manufacturing techniques such as rear underbody gigacastings.

This innovative approach to car construction is becoming more common within the Geely Group, to which Lynk & Co belongs. The Z10 shares its platform and chassis with another model from the Geely lineup, the Zeekr 001, which is known for its use of rear underbody gigacastings. This shared architecture is a strategic move by Geely to streamline production.

Lynk & Co Z10

The practice of sharing platforms and chassis extends beyond just the Z10 and the Zeekr 001. For instance, the Volvo EX30 uses the same chassis as the Zeekr X and the Volvo M90 is the same as the Zeekr 009. See here:

Geely’s rear gigacasting shared by both Volvo M90 and Zeekr 009

Anhui Ruimei installed new 5,000 ton Die Casting Machine

Anhui Ruimei Precision Parts has recently completed the construction of its new plant located in Fuyang City, Anhui province, China.

Anhui Ruimei's die casting workshop has significantly expanded its capabilities by installing a total of 9 advanced production lines. These lines are equipped with a range of die casting machines that vary in capacity from 350 tons to 5,000 tons, ensuring they can handle a wide variety of casting requirements. The workshop is further enhanced with a comprehensive array of related supporting facilities, which contribute to the efficiency and quality of the production process.

In addition to the robust die casting infrastructure, the project boasts more than 140 CNC machining centers and testing equipment, and includes a research and development center.

The Machines were supplied by Haitian which also received orders for 9,000 ton machines from Anhui Ruimei.

Quick News

IDRA

Idra Group released a video message from its General Manager John Stokes in which he discusses the importance of winning the European Inventor Award for the 5s Injection System and the Giga Press. Click here to see the video.

Yizumi

Chinese media report rumors that Yizumi will hold a new product launch conference in September and will release a new two-platen die-casting machine, including future “Giga Press size” machines.

Magrathea

Alex Grant, CEO of Magrathea, a company focused on developing a new generation of electrolytic technology for making carbon neutral magnesium metal from seawater and brines, posted an update on his Social Media profiles:

Super proud to celebrate Magrathea's electrolyzer build team today. Smooshing together first principles and the lessons of the first 150 years of molten salt electrolysis, they've designed and built a new generation of electrolyzer capable of demand response with intermittent renewable electricity. ☀

Turns out that expert design and installation of refractory bricks with "0" tolerance is key to decarbonization and onshoring of our most critical industries. Always was? It's Ryno, Darren, Ben, Max, and Berkley pushing it forward in our California magnifactorium. Well done, team! 👏

Alex Grant