Toyota GigaCasting prototype

[OVERKILL]

I think Volvo is using the term, "Mega Press" or something like that. Regardless, the castings are Tesla's breakthrough.
Perhaps Toyota will come up with another name, but for now they are developing their process. It's just a name.

Aye, but it's a stupid name, lol.

Do you remember when Microsoft was working on Windows 2000 and it was called Windows NT 5.0? The boot screen said "Based on Windows NT Technology". Now of course NT stands for New Technology so properly parsed you had "Based on Windows New Technology Technology", which is a short walk from gobblygook, but still makes more sense than billion casting, lol.

I'm sure once I've had a bit more coffee I'll be able to think of other examples "in the wild" that are equally stupid, hahaha.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I think Tesla put out a prototype in Toyota eyes.

Tesla is still figuring out cracking and managing issues and reputation damage on the fly. Different approach to building vehicles however their Tesla expected/projected lifespan is less than a Toyota .

Tesla uses GigaPresses in all their factories. That's not prototyping. Toyota and others are following suit.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Aye, but it's a stupid name, lol.

Do you remember when Microsoft was working on Windows 2000 and it was called Windows NT 5.0? The boot screen said "Based on Windows NT Technology". Now of course NT stands for New Technology so properly parsed you had "Based on Windows New Technology Technology", which is a short walk from gobblygook, but still makes more sense than billion casting, lol.

I'm sure once I've had a bit more coffee I'll be able to think of other examples "in the wild" that are equally stupid, hahaha.

A little history...

Back in 2013, Tesla’s Elon Musk coined the term “Gigafactory” when he spoke to investors about the type of massive battery factory needed to meet production demands for electric vehicles (EVs). He explained that a Gigafactory would make battery packs with the collective energy storage capacity equal to billions (hence “giga”) of watt-hours (GWh) annually. Interestingly, the sheer size of a Gigafactory could also account for the Gigafactory name. It’s derived from the Greek word “gigas,” which means giant.

Now everything's "giga" I guess. Elon's mind is on hyperdrive; he's wack.

 

[zzyzzx]

What's with the Giga prefix?

Marketing term often misapplied, just like digital.

 

[UncleDave]

Tesla calling everything "giga" is stupid, emulating that equally bad.

This move to large castings has been telegraphed years out. Tesla just got there first.

I find it really funny though....where's all the mouth music about cars made this way being un-reparairable, totaled in the smallest accident, uninsurable...?

 

[Kira]

?? ( Use of "giga"...a knee jerk for younger people...possibly investors?

Weren't many things called "nuclear / atomic" in the '50's?

HD, anyone? FM radio isn't HD, for example.

where's all the mouth music about cars made this way being un-repairable, totaled in the smallest accident, uninsurable...?

Oh, the average consumer just isn't aware of it yet. They'll soon get wind of it and communicate and organize enough to send their preferences upstream to the captains of industry.....NOT.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:
teracasting (couldn't resist) will lower the price of these sub-assemblies so they won't have to be repaired.
Just like plug in diagnostics will deliver unmeasurable savings to the consumer.

ALSO: I wouldn't get too upset over the auto industry's use of words.
Ford's "modular engines" means what? It means the machines used to make the engine parts have been somehow standardized.
The same company term, "Triton" means nothing but, "we put this engine in a truck".

Oldsmobile's 442 model meant 4 barrel carb, 4 speed transmission and dual exhaust. Younger me thought it was the number of "cubes"!

IDEA: Was it a branch of the Smithsonian which endeavored to record every farming-related word they could find before that vocabulary was lost forever?
Maybe a similar dictionary of no-longer-used car words (mechanical/artistic/advertising) would be cool?

 

[UncleDave]

?? ( Use of "giga"...a knee jerk for younger people...possibly investors?

Weren't many things called "nuclear / atomic" in the '50's?

HD, anyone? FM radio isn't HD, for example.
Oh, the average consumer just isn't aware of it yet. They'll soon get wind of it and communicate and organize enough to send their preferences upstream to the captains of industry.....NOT.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:
teracasting (couldn't resist) will lower the price of these sub-assemblies so they won't have to be repaired.
Just like plug in diagnostics will deliver unmeasurable savings to the consumer.

I'm not talking about the average consumer, but more the anti Tesla bitoggers that made these claims.

I guess the petafactory comes after the tera, and giga factories....?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Tesla calling everything "giga" is stupid, emulating that equally bad.

This move to large castings has been telegraphed years out. Tesla just got there first.

I find it really funny though....where's all the mouth music about cars made this way being un-reparairable, totaled in the smallest accident, uninsurable...?

Well, I like the name, but that's just me. Giga for the win!

EVs are stupid; Tesla will be belly up any day now, right? Only for rich Silicon Valley granola heads, right?
Ex-CEO Toyoda warned us about EVs. Even though Toyota has sold hybrids for what, 2 decades?

Now Toyota engineers are calling the Model Y a work of art.

 

[Kira]

Oh no UD, the Pentagon buys their vehicles. (ha-ha)

I'm reading a book about George Burns and Gracie Allen now

 

[OVERKILL]

It’s derived from the Greek word “gigas,” which means giant.

I know:

What's with the Giga prefix? I appreciate that the original Greek the word comes from means "giant", but "giga" in the common vernacular means 10^9, or 1 billion.

 

[UncleDave]

?? ( Use of "giga"...a knee jerk for younger people...possibly investors?

Weren't many things called "nuclear / atomic" in the '50's?

HD, anyone? FM radio isn't HD, for example.
Oh, the average consumer just isn't aware of it yet. They'll soon get wind of it and communicate and organize enough to send their preferences upstream to the captains of industry.....NOT.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:
teracasting (couldn't resist) will lower the price of these sub-assemblies so they won't have to be repaired.
Just like plug in diagnostics will deliver unmeasurable savings to the consumer.

ALSO: I wouldn't get too upset over the auto industry's use of words.
Ford's "modular engines" means what? It means the machines used to make the engine parts have been somehow standardized.
The same company term, "Triton" means nothing but, "we put this engine in a truck".

Oldsmobile's 442 model meant 4 barrel carb, 4 speed transmission and dual exhaust. Younger me thought it was the number of "cubes"!

IDEA: Was it a branch of the Smithsonian which endeavored to record every farming-related word they could find before that vocabulary was lost forever?
Maybe a similar dictionary of no-longer-used car words (mechanical/artistic/advertising) would be cool?

The acronym "442" seems to morph depending on the era and car itself.

400/ 4 barrel/ 2 door was one definition
400 / 4 speed/ dual exhaust
400/ 4 speed/ 2 door
4 barrel /4 speed /dual exhaust
4 barrel/ 4 speed /2 door

I grew up in an Olds family and my grandad had a dealership until the late 60, I was lucky to be around these awesome vehicles.

One of my most fun memories was riding with the old man in our leaned on hurst olds, chasing a ferrari down an onramp and driving around it when we got on the highway. I remember the old man laughing the whole time as he rowed the box going after it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Ford's "modular engines" means what? It means the machines used to make the engine parts have been somehow standardized.

The Modular engines were, as the name implied, modular. The same cylinder heads were usable on different blocks, they used standard pistons (had the same bore size, even the V10), the camshafts had pressed-on lobes, so could be used on the 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8L V10. They had a massive amount of standardization across the whole family with the biggest difference, at least when the series was born, being between the SOHC and DOHC configurations.

This was supposed to drive-down production costs. I'm not sure how successful it was at that goal, but it did manage to produce arguably one of the most durable engine families ever made.

The same company term, "Triton" means nothing but, "we put this engine in a truck".

Triton was a Greek God, and one would assume the name choice was meant to invoke feelings of strength and power.

 

[OVERKILL]

Now everything's "giga" I guess. Elon's mind is on hyperdrive; he's wack.

Yes, which, while idiotic, I can appreciate that Elon can get away with, because he's Elon. Toyota is not Elon, them hitching themselves to the same wagon feels desperate and more than a bit weird.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Yes, which, while idiotic, I can appreciate that Elon can get away with, because he's Elon. Toyota is not Elon, them hitching themselves to the same wagon feels desperate and more than a bit weird.

My favorite is "Mustang Mach-E". It's the worst. Make a Mustang EV if you will, but a 4 door small SUV ain't a Mustang no matter how ya slice it.

 

[OVERKILL]

My favorite is "Mustang Mach-E". It's the worst. Make a Mustang EV if you will, but a 4 door small SUV ain't a Mustang no matter how ya slice it.

Yep, that was just Ford trying to exploit some of that Mustang brand capital, it irked a lot of people. It's actually a pretty nice car, but it isn't a Mustang.

 

[JeffKeryk]

4-4-2 was 400 cu in, 4 speed, dual exhaust in late 1964 to battle the GTO. In 1965 they offered the AT, so it went to 400, 4 barrel, dual exhaust.
That's my understanding, but there are many variations.

Edit: this is wrong. In 64 they used the 330, not the 400. It was 4 barrel, 4 speed, dual exhaust in 1964. It could not keep up with the Pontiac, so they upped the displacement in 1965. The 442 was basically the Police Special.

Olds wanted to use the 425 but GM had the 400 cu in limit. Here's our '65 dash:

 

[UncleDave]

Yep, that was just Ford trying to exploit some of that Mustang brand capital, it irked a lot of people. It's actually a pretty nice car, but it isn't a Mustang.

Lazy marketing team.

It is a nice car.

Once ford gets the nacs/ charging speed up/ and Mp/kwh in line it'll be a great car.

 

[PandaBear]

I remember about 10 years ago I read that Toyota was setting up prototype assembly lines without tracks, or minimal tracks, to make re adjusting factory flooring as fast as possible to follow market changes. There weren't meaningful EVs at the time so they are really more of a state fair roller coaster track thing.

With battery advancement they can totally just put every parts on a battery operated cart and move it around. Using it to power the wheels of the front or rear seems even better, as you reduce the amount of stuff your cart has to include. I would imagine in the future these sub-assembly will be build off site and just weld together later.

One question I have would be how they paint it then put them together, and how do they paint the "joint" after the final welding. You can't dunk the whole car in a tank after everything is put on.

 

[George Bynum]

Marketing term often misapplied, just like digital.

And quantum ...

 

[Torrid]

4-4-2 was 400 cu in, 4 speed, dual exhaust in late 1964 to battle the GTO. In 1965 they offered the AT, so it went to 400, 4 barrel, dual exhaust.
That's my understanding, but there are many variations.

Edit: this is wrong. In 64 they used the 330, not the 400. It was 4 barrel, 4 speed, dual exhaust in 1964. It could not keep up with the Pontiac, so they upped the displacement in 1965. The 442 was basically the Police Special.

Olds wanted to use the 425 but GM had the 400 cu in limit. Here's our '65 dash:
View attachment 179734

Beautiful shot. The two cars from my childhood that have always been burned into my brain were the 1970 Oldsmobile 442 with the 455 Rocket and a 1970 Chevelle SS with a 572 swap. I just remember not being able to breathe standing next to that 572 with glasspacks at idle. Either way I want one of the two in dark green with black stripes with big block.