Tesla Sets 2027 Target for Robot Delivery
The company is pushing back external shipments of its humanoid robot while working to address issues with its hands, durability, and AI.
By Jonathan Pierce ·
Tesla has once again adjusted its schedule for bringing its Optimus humanoid robot to market. On its quarterly earnings call, the company announced that deliveries to outside customers are now targeted for late 2027, a shift that acknowledges significant hurdles remain in making the machine commercially viable. The company's leadership identified three core areas that must be resolved before any external shipments can begin: the robot's AI, its electromechanical design, and its overall reliability.
The development timeline for Optimus has been marked by repeated delays. The company initially stated that Optimus would be built for internal use in 2025 and for other companies in high volume in 2026. A plan to produce 10,000 robots in 2025, with several thousand performing useful tasks by year-end, was later acknowledged as unfulfilled. The current projection for late 2027 represents the latest in a series of adjustments to the project's schedule.
The company has begun early production of Optimus on a high-volume line in Fremont, the former site of Model S and Model X assembly. While most of a line designed for an annual output of one million units is installed, reaching a target of 20,000 units per week is not anticipated for at least a year, and potentially longer. The company indicated that parts of the robot's design are still undergoing changes, which prevents a full-scale ramp-up.
Specific design changes are concentrated in the robot's hands and its custom gears, which are noted for reliability concerns. The hands must be soft enough to handle delicate objects while also being durable enough to withstand constant use. A company engineer identified the hand as one of the most challenging hardware areas. On the AI front, the company is still working through issues with its architecture. To address this, it plans to build 10,000 to 20,000 robots to practice tasks in what it calls an Optimus Academy, as it lacks a fleet of robots for data collection like its vehicles have for Full Self-Driving.
The company's own statements highlight past production issues. Its Q3 shareholder letter now refers to the current batch of robots as the first production-quality units it has manufactured, implying that all prior builds did not meet that standard. Earlier reports indicated that previous units had hundreds of small parts assembled by hand, touch sensors with reliability issues, and AI that could take days to learn basic tasks.
The company's leadership claimed that, to his knowledge, there is no one close to Tesla on a general-purpose humanoid robot. This assertion is difficult to reconcile with the progress of its competitors. XPeng activated an automated production line for its IRON robot in September, with plans for mass production by the end of 2026 and deliveries starting in the first half of 2027, a timeline that is on par with or slightly ahead of Tesla's.
Boston Dynamics has also been active in this area. It began producing its electric Atlas robot in January and has committed all of its 2026 deployments. In September, it opened a robot training center where Atlas is learning to sequence car parts for an assembly line, and Hyundai plans to deploy 25,000 robots across its plants over the next few years. The company also hired Milan Kovac, a former head of Optimus at Tesla, in January.
The company has promised to release a video within a month or two showing Optimus performing tasks that are not pre-programmed. This is intended to demonstrate capabilities beyond scripted routines, which are common in humanoid robot demonstrations. The release of this video and the subsequent resolution of identified hardware and AI issues will be key to meeting the late 2027 delivery target.
Source: Electrek
