AUSTIN, Texas (WTVO) — Automaker Tesla is said to be closing in on a manufacturing innovation that could revolutionize the car-making process and drastically reduce costs, according to Reuters.

At its Austin, Texas gigafactory, Tesla engineers pioneered a process to die cast the entire front and rear of its cars in a “gigacasting” process that utilizes 6,000 to 9,000 tons of clamping pressure.

Now, the company is honing in on a process that could allow it to die-cast the entire car frame in one piece, instead of the 400 parts used in a conventional car.

Tesla designers Franz Von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy spoke about the process during the company’s Investor Day event in March.

Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, has previously expressed his inspiration for how Mattel makes their Hot Wheels toys in a single piece, and may be attempting to apply that idea to car building, further disrupting the way cars are designed and manufactured.

The process involves using 3D-printed industrial sand to fill voids within the car where the passenger or motor compartments would be located, and then using a special metallic alloy to cast the entire body at once. The void-fill sand would then be removed.

The sand mixture would have to stand up to the massive pressure and heat involved in the casting process.

According to one source, the cost of designing and casting a prototype using the process would be only 3% of doing the same with a metal prototype, meaning Tesla can tweak the design and create a new prototype within hours.

The validation cycle would take two to three months instead of six months to a year for a compatible metal mold prototype.

If it works, Tesla is expected to use the process in creating a sub $25,000 small EV and its future Robotaxi, a fully autonomous livery vehicle.

Tesla is expected to make a decision on whether or not to use the new technology as soon as next month.