Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk warned on Tuesday that the early production rate of the company’s Cybercab robotaxi and its humanoid robot Optimus could be slower than some investors may anticipate.
“The speed of the production ramp is inversely proportionate to how many new parts and steps there are,” wrote Musk on social media site X. “For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow but eventually end up being insanely fast,” he added.
Tesla’s (TSLA) last update was that CyberCab/robotaxi volume production is expected to start in 2026, with internal and public commentary pointing specifically to an April start date at the Gigafactory in Texas. Meanwhile, Optimus is expected to enter low-volume output in 2026 based on comments from Musk. Large-scale production of the Optimus humanoid robot is not expected until 2027 or later.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) slipped 0.3% in premarket action on Wednesday. The EV/AI/autonomy stock is down 6.8% on a year-to-date basis. Short interest on TSLA stands at 2.0% of the total float, which is slightly higher than where it stood at the beginning of the year. Tesla (TSLA) is due to report fourth-quarter earnings on January 28.