Elon Musk’s planned Model 2 introduction of a low-cost automobile manufacturing revolution might have to wait until a better time.
This was meant to be the process that enabled them to create the Model 2 cheaply. Tesla planned to press the entire chassis of its affordable car in one stroke instead of having front and back gigacastings like on the Cybertruck or the Model Y.
Though it would have required significant upfront investments in Gigapresses and production line retooling, this would have saved hundreds of parts and person-hours.
As Elon Musk stated in his quarterly investor presentation, Tesla will use only the parts of the next-generation platform that can be performed on its existing production lines. This will allow it to reduce manufacturing costs without incurring large capital expenditures during these lean periods.
Elon Musk stated that Tesla would first develop a Robotaxi on the next-generation platform. The chassis is assembled in three pieces with front and rear gigacastings.
As a result, the Robotaxi should remain the most affordable Tesla car to manufacture without the need to scale a novel and unproven production technology to produce large volumes.
Tesla will reportedly apply the lessons learned from the Robotaxi’s production to reduce the cost of its planned Model Y Juniper makeover.
