Ford Embraces Tesla Gigacasting and Cybertruck 48V Architecture for Next-Gen Electric Vehicles | Taha Abbasi

In a move that validates years of Tesla’s manufacturing innovation, Taha Abbasi reports that Ford Motor Company has officially confirmed its next-generation electric vehicles will adopt Tesla-pioneered gigacasting technology and the Cybertruck’s 48-volt electrical architecture. The announcement, reported by Teslarati on February 19, 2026, represents perhaps the strongest endorsement yet of Tesla’s manufacturing philosophy from a legacy automaker.

When Tesla first introduced gigacasting with the Model Y rear underbody in 2020, the automotive establishment was skeptical. When the Cybertruck launched with a 48V electrical system — the first production vehicle to move beyond the industry-standard 12V since the 1950s — many called it unnecessary complexity. Ford’s decision to adopt both technologies effectively closes that debate.

Gigacasting: From Skepticism to Industry Standard

Traditional vehicle manufacturing involves stamping hundreds of individual metal parts, then welding, bonding, and fastening them together to create the vehicle’s body structure. Each joint is a potential point of failure, each assembly step adds labor cost, and the entire process requires massive factory floor space filled with robots.

Tesla’s gigacasting approach replaces this complexity with simplicity: a single massive die-casting machine produces large structural components in one piece. The Model Y rear underbody, which previously required 70+ individual parts and multiple welding steps, became a single casting produced in about 90 seconds. The cost savings, weight reduction, and structural improvements were immediately apparent.

Ford’s adoption signals that these benefits are not Tesla-specific — they’re physics-specific. Any manufacturer that switches to gigacasting can achieve similar results. The question has shifted from “does this work?” to “how quickly can we tool up?” As Taha Abbasi notes, Ford’s engineering team has been quietly studying Tesla’s approach for years, and the decision to commit represents confidence that the technology is ready for Ford-scale production.

The 48-Volt Revolution Accelerates

Perhaps even more significant than gigacasting is Ford’s adoption of 48-volt low-voltage architecture. The automotive industry has been running on 12-volt electrical systems since the 1950s — a standard designed when power windows were a luxury option and the most complex electronic component was an AM radio.

Modern vehicles — especially EVs — place enormous demands on their low-voltage systems. Heated seats, advanced infotainment, sensor suites for ADAS, electronic power steering, power brakes, and dozens of electronic control units all draw from the same 12V system. The result is thick, heavy wiring harnesses, voltage drops under load, and constant engineering compromises.

Tesla’s Cybertruck proved that 48V eliminates these problems. A 48V system delivers four times the power at the same current, or the same power at one-quarter the current. This means thinner wires, lighter harnesses, reduced resistive losses, and the ability to power systems that simply aren’t practical at 12V. Taha Abbasi estimates the Cybertruck’s 48V architecture saves approximately 50 pounds of wiring weight alone — weight that directly translates to improved range and performance.

Ford’s Skunkworks Approach

What makes Ford’s implementation strategy particularly interesting is the organizational model. Rather than routing these innovations through Ford’s traditional engineering bureaucracy, the company has established a dedicated “skunkworks” team — a small, agile group with direct executive access and freedom from corporate red tape. This mirrors how breakthrough innovations have historically been developed, from Lockheed’s original Skunk Works to Apple’s iPhone team.

Ford has also implemented a “bounty” system where engineers earn rewards for identifying cost savings and efficiency improvements. This Silicon Valley-inspired approach represents a cultural shift for Detroit that Taha Abbasi previously analyzed as potentially transformative for Ford’s competitiveness.

The Broader Industry Impact

Ford isn’t the only legacy automaker looking at Tesla’s manufacturing playbook. Volvo has announced gigacasting plans. Hyundai is investing in large-format casting machines. Toyota — the world’s largest automaker — has publicly discussed adopting similar techniques for its next-generation EV platform. Even Chinese manufacturers like BYD and NIO are exploring gigacasting technology.

The convergence is remarkable. In automotive history, manufacturing innovations typically took decades to spread across the industry. Tesla introduced gigacasting in 2020 and 48V architecture in 2023. By 2026, the industry’s biggest players are adopting both. As Taha Abbasi observes, this rapid adoption cycle reflects the urgency of the EV transition and the undeniable economics of Tesla’s approach.

For consumers, this means better, cheaper, more efficient vehicles from every manufacturer. For Tesla, it means the loss of a manufacturing exclusivity but the validation of a vision. And for the industry, it means the era of incremental automotive manufacturing improvements has given way to step-function changes driven by first-principles engineering. The car factory of 2030 will look nothing like the car factory of 2020 — and Tesla’s fingerprints will be on every one of them.

---

About the Author: Taha Abbasi is a technology executive, CTO, and applied frontier tech builder. Read more on Grokpedia | YouTube: The Brown Cowboy | tahaabbasi.com