The Giga Press program is a series of aluminium die casting machines manufactured for Tesla, initially by Idra Group in Italy.

Idra presses were the largest high-pressure die casting machines in production as of 2020, with a clamping force of 55,000 to 61,000 kilonewtons (5,600 to 6,200 tf).

[5] Shots of molten aluminium weighing 80 kilograms (180 lb) are injected into the cold-chamber casting mold with a velocity of 10 metres per second (22 mph; 36 km/h).

To prevent the formation of oxides, a tank blanket of nitrogen gas covers the molten aluminium, which is circulated to maintain an even temperature.

A mechanical trim press cuts the approximate edges, recycling excess aluminium into the melting oven.

The remaining useful part of the casting is X-rayed to check its internal structure, trimmed by laser, drilled for fittings, and then computer-measured for precision.

[16][17] In January 2021, Musk stated that the rear chassis of the Tesla Cybertruck would be produced using a casting machine larger than 8,000-tonne-force (80,000 kN).

[21] On 11 March 2021, one of the Fremont presses suffered a fire, caused by molten aluminium igniting hydraulic fluid.

[35] LK Technology delivered one Impress-Plus DCC 6000 machine for Glovitech of South Korea, installed in the Vân Trung Industrial Zone, Việt Yên, Bắc Giang Province, Vietnam.

[39] By November 2023, orders had been placed for two 9000-tonnes-force Giga Press machines for a new Volvo electric vehicle factory at Košice, Slovakia.

[40] In September 2023 Tesla was reported to be considering a single-piece casting for entire underbody of its to-be-announced "small car", an easier task than single-casting their existing, larger models.

This required learning how to use larger Giga Press machines, reduce mold design costs, and incorporate hollow subframes.

A different type of press would inject molten alloy more slowly that would allow sand cores and produce higher quality castings, although at a slower pace.