There's an interesting article in Automotive Testing Technology International magazine this month featuring Thatcham Research's Darren Bright on the subject of megacasting and how it may affect repairability.
Gigacasting (or megacasting) has become a hot topic according to the article. Replacing multiple pressed and welded steel elements with large structural sections cast from an aluminium alloy. The Tesla Model Y was an early adopter but Neo, Xpeng and Geely have also launched models with gigacast sections. Toyota will follow suit in 2026 and other OEMs have hinted that they will follow suit.
Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker is not a fan of this kind of body construction saying that it increases the risk of vehicles needing expensive repairs or becoming a total loss after minor collisions. Ducker Carlisle's team said it had a 'below-average' repairability in a recent white paper that the method could lead to cheaper but more disposable vehicles.
Thatcham has begun researching gigacasting specifically on the Tesla Model Y and reports that the results so far are positive in terms of repairability.
Gigacast structures are designed with a four-zone crash strategy based on impact speed, Low and medium speed collisions are absorbed by deformable sections that can be replaced. For high speed collisions, vehicles have deformable cast-aluminum side members and gigacasting's structure is designed to protect third-row occupants in ultra high-speed crashes.
Customer data shows that a Zeekr 009 recently survived a collision with a bus and the gigacasting was undamaged. Toyota is taking similar steps with its next generation EV platform, which Lexus will debut in 2026. It is introducing single piece front and rear section for which it takes two minutes to manufacture and replaces 175 individual parts. The company says it will offer replaceable sections to keep repair costs down.