"Integrated die-casting technology" has become a hot technology topic in the automotive field in 2023, and automakers such as Tesla, NIO, Xpeng, Li, Gaohe, Wenjie, Geely, Great Wall, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo have successively applied this technology.
What is one-piece die casting, and what is the significance of this technology for car companies?
What is the value to car owners?
Let's take a look at a picture first, the body of the car in the past was basically "loose parts", which needed to be formed by combined welding.
Car companies reduce costs
The application of die-casting technology is very extensive, but the integrated die-casting of automobiles is still a relatively new concept; because the structure of the automobile body is very complex, quite a lot of parts need to be combined by welding, riveting, bolting or gluing, etc., the whole process is quite cumbersome, and each step needs to be operated by machine or manually. However, there is no need to worry about the structural strength of the welded car body, and the structural strength can be guaranteed even if it is bolted in some special positions, but the cost of such a body manufacturing process will be relatively high, because more manual operation is required. And too many parts procurement and other links will also increase the cost of vehicle manufacturing for enterprises, after all, each link needs to be operated by people, and integrated die-casting technology can bypass these links.
In short, integrated die-casting can reduce the application of parts, so that many parts and the body or a certain position to form an "assembly" concept, through the large-tonnage die-casting machine with molds and materials, directly press out a lot of parts and main parts.
This description may not be easy to understand, so let's take the simplest example:
Some pastries will have words or patterns on them, which are not engraved, but the material is placed in a mold and then pressed hard to create the pattern.
Die-casting technology is such a principle, the use of die-casting technology can not only reduce labor costs from multiple links, but also reduce the cost of material consumption;
The owner increases the cost
Suppose that the rear floor assembly of a certain car adopts die-casting technology, and the chassis covers many areas, including the position where the rear part of the car is connected to the anti-collision cross-rail, then once the car is rear-ended and the impact force is large, the entire rear floor may be deformed. On the contrary, if the rear bottom plate is built by traditional technology, the collision may only cause the deformation of the steel plate in a certain position, and the maintenance plan is generally to cut the deformed position, replace it with parts and re-weld, and the maintenance cost will obviously be lower. On the contrary, the integrated die-cast rear bottom plate can only replace the entire assembly, and the replacement cost is obviously much higher.
To sum up, the integrated die-casting technology will be a lot of parts to form an "assembly", once damaged to replace the assembly, the cost will of course increase;
However, the insurance industry belongs to the financial industry, and insurance companies are not here to do charity for car owners.
In C-IASI, an automobile crash test structure founded by an insurance company, its test items include "crashworthiness and maintenance economy", which tests the maintenance cost and ranking of the vehicle after the vehicle is crash tested in the same way. The results are not simply for car users, the test results are of course for insurance companies, insurance companies can fully evaluate and adjust vehicle premiums based on the results, to put it bluntly, it is based on the results of pricing and can be high or low.
Summary: The integrated die-casting technology can indeed enable car companies to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and can make multiple links no longer use labor, but for car owners, it will increase the cost of car use, and the cost of car insurance may increase, so it is difficult to evaluate whether this technology is a disadvantage or a benefit.
However, there are two sides to everything, and the integrated die-casting assembly also has an advantage for car owners.
The advantage is that the body realizes further "modularization", and the "large assembly" of the body body can be replaced after the vehicle collision, and the strength of the body after overhaul is not inferior to that of the new car; However, regardless of whether the owner accepts the die-casting technology, it will be popular, and the next stage of the development needs to be concerned about whether the insurance cost of the vehicle using the die-casting technology will be higher, and if so, how much higher, as long as it is within a reasonable range, the strength advantage of the body after modular replacement and maintenance can be accepted.
Let's wait and see, I believe that after the popularization of this technology, there will be a way to overcome the shortcomings of high maintenance costs.