Revolutionary change sweeping the EV market
Volvo is chasing down Tesla with a revolutionary process that will make its electric cars cheaper.
The Chinese owned Swedish brand has committed to a “mega casting” manufacturing process in its next-generation electric cars, according to UK publication Autocar.
The radical procedure die-casts large sections of the car such as the complex rear and front underbody in one piece.
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This apparently rolls hundreds of individual parts into one solid slab, which slashes production costs and increases efficiency that should make future vehicles cheaper.
Tesla is currently the only car maker that uses this process, which allows it to sell its cars for less than competitors.
Volvo will be fully electric by 2026 in Australia.
In Australia, the Tesla Model Y starts at about $60,900 (before on-road costs) which is significantly less than rivals such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 ($65,000) and Toyota bZ4X ($66,000).
According to reports Volvo will start by using the production technique on the rear floor, which will weigh 50 per cent less and require significantly less welded joints.
Tesla currently uses the process for the front and rear floors but has recently abandoned plans for a one-piece cast floor from front to back.
This coincides with Tesla halting development of its cut-price Model 2 small car that relied on the cost savings associated with the single piece casting technique.
Tesla was believed to be targeting a US$25,000 ($37,800) price for the Model 2.
The Volvo EX90 has been confirmed for Oz.
Volvo has committed to be electric-only in Australia by 2026, which is when the maker is tipped to start mega-casting its cars, and it has a few holes in its EV line-up that need to be filled.
It is likely the first Volvo model to use the cost-cutting process could be the EX60, the electric equivalent of the volume-selling XC60 mid-size SUV that would compete with the Model Y.
The next-generation of the XC40 electric SUV, which will most likely be dubbed the EX40, could also be a candidate for the process.
The recently launched EX30 little electric SUV and soon to arrive EX90 large SUV might join the end of the queue.
Volvo’s parent company Geely also owns Polestar and a range of other electric vehicle brands such as the confirmed for Australia Zeekr. Both would be in line to use to same technique in the future.