"On January 20, Musk said on X that early production of both products will be "agonizingly slow"-a remarkable admission for a man who has spent the past year telling investors these moonshot projects would save his flailing car company. "For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast," Musk wrote."
"This is the same man who promised that the Cybercab would launch in 2026 at a price "under $30,000," revolutionizing urban transportation with fully autonomous vehicles that would cost riders just 20 cents per mile. And the same person who, at his Hollywood spectacle of an event in October 2024, claimed these scissor-doored wonders would transform parking lots into parks."
"It's the same Musk who said Optimus would be working in Tesla factories by the end of 2025, with 5,000 units produced in 2026 and eventually 1 million per year within five years. But two sources in the Optimus supply chain claim that "Tesla had only procured enough parts to produce 1,200 Optimus units and had manufactured close to 1,000 before manufacturing halted (more on this later)." As of now, there are no robots doing any meaningful work in Tesla factories; this week, Musk claimed they are "currently doing simple tasks." We do know, from videos online, that they move at glacial speeds and can't replace human workers in any way."
Early production of both the Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robot will be agonizingly slow, despite expectations of eventual rapid scale-up. Cybercab targets included a 2026 launch priced under $30,000, fully autonomous operation costing about $0.20 per mile, and repurposing parking lots into parks. Optimus projections included factory deployment by the end of 2025, 5,000 units in 2026, and up to 1 million units per year within five years. Supply-chain sources report parts procured for about 1,200 Optimus units and close to 1,000 manufactured before production halted. Available units move slowly, perform only simple tasks, and do not replace human workers.
Read at Fast Company
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