toyotaThe car showed a prototype of a new one-piece die-casting (gigacasting) equipment that could make a third of a car body in about three minutes, a development that would mark a step forward for Toyota in years to come.Electric CarThe key to a profitable production plan.
Nikkei Shimbun reported that when Toyota recently showed the equipment to reporters at the Myochi plant, white smoke emitted during operation was explosive. When molten aluminum was poured, it rapidly dropped from 700 °C to 250 °C, and solidified into a single solid. Die-cast components that make up the entire rear third of a vehicle’s chassis. Currently, this part is typically assembled through 33 steps and 86 parts, taking many hours of work.
Toyota aims to use such progressive practices to reduce manufacturing processes, plant investments and manufacturing lead times, helping it achieve its annual sales target of 3.5 million electric vehicles by 2030.
By 2026, one-piece die-casting technology will be used to make the front and rear parts of the new car. While changing the heavy mold initially took a day, the process was later shortened to 20 minutes by reducing the number of parts to be removed. Toyota aims to use proprietary software to analyze optimal casting conditions and achieve 20% higher productivity than competitors.
Another strategy from Toyota is to automate production and use factory space more efficiently to coordinate with the new equipment needed for electric vehicle production.
At Toyota Motor’s Motomachi plant, equipped with tires and batteries, but without body sides and roof, a semi-finished car was automatically driven by a robotic arm at a speed of 0.1 meters per second. The robot arm then guided an autonomous vehicle. The seats have been shipped and installed. Once completed, the vehicles are taken to various areas for inspection and shipment.
This configuration eliminates conveyor belts, allowing factories to adjust work configurations more quickly and reduce investments. Toyota aims to cut assembly time in half from about 10 hours now.
Due to the high cost of batteries, it is difficult to make a profit in the production of electric vehicles by expanding traditional manufacturing methods alone.TeslaIt has adopted one-piece die-casting technology to maintain cost competitiveness by mass producing some car models. However, Toyota’s vehicle manufacturing technology and equipment, combined with its extensive model lineup, make Toyota’s status distinct from that of a young company that has been established for only a few years.
“We are learning new options from electric manufacturers dedicated to meeting the challenges,” said Shingo Wamitsu, head of Toyota production.
Toyota aims to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles in 2026, about 60 times last year’s sales. Takaaki Nakanishi, CEO of Nakanishi Research Institute, an automotive industry research institute, expects about 40% of cars to be built using existing Toyota New Global Architecture platforms, while the rest will use dedicated platforms for electric vehicles.
Toyota’s traditional architecture is designed to balance efficiency and comfort, but it is not expected to generate profits when producing electric vehicles. Toyota expects to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles in 2030, of which about 1.7 million will use the new architecture.
Toyota will sell about 24,000 electric vehicles in 2022, significantly less than the approximately 1.31 million vehicles delivered by Tesla.
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