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Munro & Associates Tears Down Structural Battery Pack on Tesla Model Y, It's Mind-Blowing

Munro & Associates started tearing apart the new Tesla Model Y made in Texas with 4680 cells, revealing fascinating details. The teardown firm shared online the first video of the battery pack disassembly, highlighting how clever this solution really is.
Munro & Associates tears down structural battery pack on Tesla Model Y 8 photos
Photo: Munro Live via Youtube
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Tesla made waves back in 2020 when they introduced the bigger 4680 cells and talked about the idea of integrating them into a structural battery pack. Since then, we’ve found more interesting things about the new production technique that should change the way cars are built in the not-so-distant future. All these and the front and rear megacastings are included in the Tesla Model Y crossovers built at Giga Austin, and it’s probably coming to Giga Berlin soon.

Famous teardown firm Munro & Associates has already stripped apart several Tesla vehicles in the past. It has started to do the same with a recently acquired made-in-Texas example. The firm shared a preliminary video on Wednesday, and the first impressions are more than optimistic. The Munro team was impressed with the new design and, more specifically, with how light the battery pack is.

We’ve already discovered that the structural battery pack is removable, but this is the first video showing how easy it is to disassemble the battery pack together with the front seats and the center console from the car’s body. This design allows Tesla to minimize negative mass, thus increasing the energy density of the battery pack.

Indeed, the car’s chassis has very few components, with only the front and rear single-piece cast parts known as megacastings attached to the battery pack. There is no floor, and the seats are bolted directed to the battery, saving weight and simplifying the assembly process. This is “mind-blowing,” according to Cory Steuben, President of Munro & Associates.

It is absolutely mind-blowing to be standing under a vehicle on a hoist and have absolutely nothing for the floor structure,” says Cory. “You’d have hundreds of stamped parts where this front gigacasting is, hundreds and hundreds of parts in the back. The level of refinement and integration is incredible.”

The battery pack, together with the seats and the center console, is also significantly lighter than on competing models. The whole assembly weighs less than 1,200 lb (544 kg), which is really impressive. There is no further information at this stage, but Munro & Associates will share new videos from the teardown process in the future.

Most probably, the team will next dive into the battery pack itself. Although we’ve already seen a cutaway of the battery pack, a production vehicle teardown is a lot more interesting. Until then, watch the preliminary teardown of the structural battery pack in the video below.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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