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Tesla Installs First Optimus Production Lines at Fremont as V3 Reveal Waits
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Tesla said in its second-quarter 2026 update, published with its quarterly results on July 22, 2026, that it has decommissioned the Model S and Model X manufacturing lines at its Fremont, California, factory and is installing the first-generation production lines for its Optimus humanoid robot. The company said it expects to start Optimus production there soon.
The outlook section of the update said the first-generation Optimus lines are being installed in anticipation of production in 2026, according to Tesla. Tesla said the initial Optimus builds will be used in its Optimus Academy for training data collection and further functionality development.
From car lines to robot lines
Tesla set out the plan in its first-quarter 2026 update, which it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In that document, Tesla said the first-generation Optimus line, designed for 1 million robots a year, would replace the Model S and Model X lines in Fremont. Tesla said in the same update that it was preparing Gigafactory Texas for a second-generation line designed for long-term annual production capacity of 10 million robots.
In the second-quarter update, Tesla said building construction at the Gigafactory Texas site was in full swing. The company also said its Cortex 2 compute cluster supports development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software.
On the first-quarter earnings call on April 22, chief executive Elon Musk said Optimus production would begin at Fremont in late July or August, Electrek reported. Musk described stopping one line, dismantling it and installing a new one within about four months as an unusually fast pace, according to Electrek. He declined to give a production target for 2026 and said the robots' first skills would be simple tasks in the factory, the outlet reported.
Third-generation reveal
Tesla's second-quarter update did not include a public reveal of the third-generation Optimus. Electrek reported in April that the Gen 3 reveal, originally expected in the first quarter of 2026, had been pushed again, with Musk pointing to "probably middle of this year." Musk said competitors study Tesla's releases frame by frame and copy what they can, according to Electrek.
What to watch
- Production start: Tesla said in July that it expects Optimus production at Fremont to begin soon.
- Early use: Tesla said the first builds will go to its Optimus Academy for data collection.
- Fremont capacity: Tesla's first-quarter update put the design capacity of the first line at 1 million robots a year.
- Texas: Tesla said Gigafactory Texas is being prepared for a second-generation line with a long-term design capacity of 10 million robots a year.
Sources
- Tesla Q2 2026 Update (Tesla)
- Tesla Q1 2026 Update (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) (Tesla via U.S. SEC)
- Tesla pushes Optimus V3 reveal later this year – again (Electrek)