Lexus to lead Toyota's move to gigacasting

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor has tapped premium subsidiary Lexus to lead the company's shift toward using gigacasting for large aluminum parts.

The production method was pioneered by electric vehicle leader Tesla and is being adopted by automakers such as Volvo -- starting in 2025 for its next-generation EVs – as well as Ford and Hyundai.

Lexus plans to use gigacasting for EVs, starting with the LF-ZC, Lexus President Takashi Watanabe said at the Japan Mobility Show here last month. Lexus showed a concept of the midsize sedan show and plans to start making the production model in 2026.

"Gigacasting will play a very big role in the LF-ZC, as we want to drastically simplify the manufacturing process of our next-generation EVs," Watanabe said.

Lexus is spearheading Toyota Motor's EV transition. Therefore, it will get new-generation battery-powered cars a year ahead of Toyota brand, which will add them in 2027. Lexus aims to be an electric-only brand by 2035.

Multiple large parts in one

Tesla uses giga presses to create the Model Y's front and rear underbodies. The two parts are then connected to a central underbody using a mix of stamped sheet metal and aluminum parts.

Lexus, meanwhile, plans to build the entire underbody using three separate gigacast modules for the front, middle and rear.

To test the process Toyota using a 4,000-metric ton press from Ube of Japan to rework sections of the bZ4X electric crossover at its Myochi casting plant. The early results show that the rear floor of the bZ4X can be created in one piece from one process, down from 86 parts that require 33 manufacturing processes. This leads to a significant savings in stamping time and a big reduction in assembly complexity.

U.S. consulting firm Munro & Associates estimates that by using gigacasting for the Model Y's rear underbody Tesla avoided having to deal with more than 120 stamped parts, hundreds of fastening operations and no longer needed 14 robotic manufacturing stations.

1,000 km range

The production LF-ZC due in 2026 will have a high-performance lithium ion battery capable of traveling 800 km (500 miles). Going a step further, Watanabe said that electric Lexus models that come after the LF-ZC will have a range that exceeds 1,000 kilometers.

That is expected in 2027-28 when Lexus introduces high-performance bipolar cathode batteries. That is more than double the range of the Lexus RZ, which has a range of 404 km based on WTLP testing. The RZ and the bZ4X are sister models.