April 27 Reuters Geely39;s EV brand Zeekr is the latest to join a growing list of automakers that have turned to the gigapress die casting technique pioneered by Tesla to slash the cost of electric cars.

Zeekr39;s manufacturing technology chief Jiang Kehong told Reuters the Chinese carmaker had started using massive aluminium die casts to make a large rear underbody section of its Zeekr 009 sixseat, multipurpose van MPV.

He said the technique had helped Zeekr eliminate almost 800 welding points, cut defects, made the car lighter, and boosted its structural stiffness, in turn improving the ride of the MPV which went on sale in China this year.

In the future, Zeekr will use gigacasting technology on more models, Jiang said.

Zeekr39;s shift to the gigapress technique comes at the same time Chinese rival Xpeng has adopted a new vehicle platform technology that also mimics the way Tesla designs and manufactures electric cars.

Metal and plastic die casting has long been used in manufacturing, but its application to large aluminium underbodies in carmaking is relatively new.

The newest and biggest press made by IDRA has a clamping force of over 9,000 tons. It can punch out the front and rear underbodies which support the car39;s outer skin and provide a platform for suspension components.

The front and rear sections are then connected with large underfloor battery packs to form a threepiece EV chassis.

The use of the heavy casting machines, dubbed gigapresses by Tesla,…