I am going to save everyone the trouble of speculating. The parts catalog has been released and the price of the front casting is a little over 1k. The estimated time needed to replace a front casting is 6 hours. The entire front crumple zone is designed for rapid replacement. There are not a lot of components in the area like a typical engine bay and the drive units and steering assembly are one unit that is designed to survive front impacts by pushing it underneath the vehicle as the  front crumples. A front collision will cost around 12k to repair in parts and labor and frankly, the repairs are so simple that a mechanically inclined owner could do the work themselves without much trouble.

Quote from: Dulag on December 15, 2023, 14:29:09The giga casting cannot be welded back together (and remain safe).
When broken, it must be replaced.
When "replacing" the gigacasting, the body repair tech must disassemble everything from the gigacasting frame.  The labor to do so would be more than the cyber truck's residual value.

Most responses are incorrect.  Current design frames can be bent back and most reputable body repair shops have the equipment to do so with reasonable labor costs.  No, current cars are not just "totaled" from a bent frame.

The vitriol towards the author over the topic demonstrates the upcoming culture war over the cybertruck.  Stay tuned for more foaming-at-the-mouth defense of it, regardless of facts.

If the frame of an automobile is bent it is automatically totalled. No, body shops do NOT straighten frames. It is called a BODY shop, not a frame shop. Straightening a frame should be considered fraud unless that vehicle gets a salvaged title. You clearly do not own a vehicle or a drivers license for that matter. Stick to public transportation clown.

Karman Ghia lessons lost on these types....  ins and repairs make a nightmare. Please insert excuses here X

Quote from: Nick134566 on December 15, 2023, 21:46:45

Quote from: Dulag on December 15, 2023, 14:29:09The giga casting cannot be welded back together (and remain safe).
When broken, it must be replaced.
When "replacing" the gigacasting, the body repair tech must disassemble everything from the gigacasting frame.  The labor to do so would be more than the cyber truck's residual value.

Most responses are incorrect.  Current design frames can be bent back and most reputable body repair shops have the equipment to do so with reasonable labor costs.  No, current cars are not just "totaled" from a bent frame.

The vitriol towards the author over the topic demonstrates the upcoming culture war over the cybertruck.  Stay tuned for more foaming-at-the-mouth defense of it, regardless of facts.

You are full of s***.  My car got side swiped and the only damage was to the rear driver side door and it set off the airbags.  My car was considered totalled. You think frame repair is not costly? The insurance company called mine totalled and you are complaining about a front end collision at 30-50 mph. Secondly that would be a huge black mark on the car if it has frame damage.  The insurance company in ALL situations is going to call a car totaled that has enough damage to cause frame damage especially it you completely smashed in the front end.  Who repairs a car after they were in a serious enough accident to smash in the front end?  ANY car in that type of accident would be considered totalled by all insurance companies.  What a stupid thing to complain about.  Guess what, all totalled cars are more expensive to repair than their initial cost.  That's why insurance companies just pay you out rather than repair. You also said on the initial investment it is cheaper to construct it that way.  So your article should read Tesla's gigcasting is a great cost savings.

The gigacasting is a part that the consumer would NEVER (or EXTREMELY RARE situations) have to replace.  And if it did insurance would cover it. It is only destroyed when the car would also be considered totalled.  What a stupid article.  Find a new job or at least a different topic because you are incompetent at this one.

Thank you for setting this straight.  And, another fact is that the casting CAN be replaced as a whole component (unlike straightening a frame, which weakens the frame and totaling the vehicle) this will allow a vehicle to be repaired and NEVER totalled!!! Think about it please.

Jon doe.. that is an absolute lie! No model S has a gigacast frame.. yet... get that crap off of here!

The Cybertruck has rear direction, the wheels aren't attached directly to a rear axle spanning the full width of the car. The way they move forward as if they snapped in the crash test video doesn't mean they do and doesn't put into question the build quality of the vehicle.

If anything, the rear wheel continuing forward at the moment of impact means their kinetic energy gets transferred and dissipated just that little bit later, thus is a small benefit to safety.

Quote from: John doe on December 15, 2023, 21:09:31We currently have 3 Tesla Model S plaids in our shop with minimal damage to the aluminum casting but is required to be replaced to properly fix. All 3 might end up totaling because of it. We torn down one to basically the shell and insurance says they will probably total it and since the same insurance company has one of the other plaids, they will total that one also without tearing it down first.

Uhh, does model S even have castings? I think you sir might be a straight up liar...

Perfect example of how someone just writes the s*** they've read on X into a nice article without ever checking any facts and knowing little about crashtests.

Quote from: Dulag on December 15, 2023, 14:29:09The giga casting cannot be welded back together (and remain safe).
When broken, it must be replaced.
When "replacing" the gigacasting, the body repair tech must disassemble everything from the gigacasting frame.  The labor to do so would be more than the cyber truck's residual value.

Most responses are incorrect.  Current design frames can be bent back and most reputable body repair shops have the equipment to do so with reasonable labor costs.  No, current cars are not just "totaled" from a bent frame.

The vitriol towards the author over the topic demonstrates the upcoming culture war over the cybertruck.  Stay tuned for more foaming-at-the-mouth defense of it, regardless of facts.

You are full of s***.  My car got side swiped and the only damage was to the rear driver side door and it set off the airbags.  My car was considered totalled. You think frame repair is not costly? The insurance company called mine totalled and you are complaining about a front end collision at 30-50 mph. Secondly that would be a huge black mark on the car if it has frame damage.  The insurance company in ALL situations is going to call a car totaled that has enough damage to cause frame damage especially it you completely smashed in the front end.  Who repairs a car after they were in a serious enough accident to smash in the front end?  ANY car in that type of accident would be considered totalled by all insurance companies.  What a stupid thing to complain about.  Guess what, all totalled cars are more expensive to repair than their initial cost.  That's why insurance companies just pay you out rather than repair. You also said on the initial investment it is cheaper to construct it that way.  So your article should read Tesla's gigcasting is a great cost savings.

The gigacasting is a part that the consumer would NEVER (or EXTREMELY RARE situations) have to replace.  And if it did insurance would cover it. It is only destroyed when the car would also be considered totalled.  What a stupid article.  Find a new job or at least a different topic because you are incompetent at this one.

We currently have 3 Tesla Model S plaids in our shop with minimal damage to the aluminum casting but is required to be replaced to properly fix. All 3 might end up totaling because of it. We torn down one to basically the shell and insurance says they will probably total it and since the same insurance company has one of the other plaids, they will total that one also without tearing it down first.

If the front gigacasting protects the occupants from serious injury during a catastrophic collision, the cost of the vehicle will be chump change compared to the liability and long term rehab of the occupants. Any injury prevented is a huge cost saving not only for the individual, family and loved ones, but also for the whole system of insurance and health care that all indirectly contribute to.

Quote from: JGarbo on December 15, 2023, 05:17:22The writer jumps the gun. True, Teslas are among the safest cars in US. True, a frontal collison impact will deform/destroy the gigacasting unit, but where is his "most expensive" pricing? The battery is usually the most expensive part of an EV. The gigacasting is one piece of Al alloy produced in seconds, replacing dozens of previous, more expensive steel parts that would also be replaced, not repaired. BMW tried this price trickery to defend their complex steel front end subframes' crash resistance and cost, and failed. More details needed. Expected better better from this site.

You're 100% correct on the battery price front. Neglected to mention that. I've amended the article to clarify.

So like...every other car currently on the market lmao

An article about the possible expense to repair a Tesla after a serious accident, but one Rivian body panel cost over $30,000???

What the hell, if you get in an accident that crumples any cars front it's gonna be totalled. Lmao