Tesla’s Fremont factory is getting a new tenant. Footage surfaced on July 1 showing someone walking the Optimus robot production line inside the California facility, offering the first public look at a manufacturing floor being reimagined for humanoid robotics.
From sedans to sentient-looking machines
Tesla ceased production of its Model S and Model X vehicles in Q2 2026, with the last units rolling off the line around early May. Now, the space they occupied is being repurposed for the Gen 3 Optimus humanoid robot, which Tesla has positioned as its first humanoid design intended for mass production.
Elon Musk outlined the timeline during Tesla’s Q1 2026 earnings call, stating that Optimus production would commence in late July or August 2026. He was candid about the early pace, noting that initial production rates would be slow due to the complexity and sheer number of unique parts each robot requires.
Pilot production lines were already operational at Fremont before the larger-scale setup. Tesla is targeting an annual production capacity of up to 1 million Optimus units at the Fremont facility.
