Musk: Optimus Mass Production Will Be Extremely Slow Initially
Claire Weston
Musk said Optimus production will be extremely slow at first because 'everything is new — this isn't like making a car,' directly cooling expectations for an early ramp — full-scale production is not expected until summer 2027.
Why did Musk push back on the hype?
A day earlier, Musk posted a photo with the Optimus production team at Tesla's Fremont factory, sparking speculation that mass production was accelerating.
A user inferred that Tesla delayed the Optimus V3 demo because production was ahead of schedule. Musk directly rejected that reading.
His response on X: production will be extremely slow at first, "because everything is new — this isn't like making a car."
What makes building a humanoid robot harder than building a car?
Optimus contains roughly 10,000 individual parts that must work in coordination — any single link can become a bottleneck.
In plain terms = carmaking draws on decades of mature supply chains and assembly processes. Humanoid-robot manufacturing has no existing playbook to follow.
Musk expects the ramp to follow a classic S-curve — a growth path where initial output is very low, then accelerates — with the early phase focused on sorting out assembly, not chasing volume.
Where does capacity stand right now?
Tesla has converted part of the Fremont plant for initial assembly of the third-generation Optimus, including lines previously used for Model S and Model X.
Pilot production is expected to begin this summer; a larger, dedicated Optimus factory is under construction at the Texas Gigafactory.
This means → Tesla is not standing still despite the slow pace — capacity infrastructure is already being laid, but full-scale production is not expected until around summer 2027.
What does this mean for the stock?
Tesla positions Optimus as "the most important product in company history," with long-term value that could eventually surpass the EV business.
The long-term target is 10 million units per year, but near-term production will run far slower than the market's prior optimistic expectations.
This means → the Optimus production timeline and the upcoming Q2 vehicle delivery data will jointly shape the stock's near-term direction — the former prices in the robotics story, the latter tests core automotive fundamentals.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.