Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has restated an ambitious goal for the company’s robot that mimics human behavior. In a recent X post, Musk reiterated his belief that the Tesla Optimus pricing would be approximately half of a car. The CEO appears to be dropping hints about a price range of less than $25,000-$30,000 for Optimus, which is surprising given that the Model Y, Tesla’s most popular car right now, starts at $43,990 in the US.
Musk recently addressed ARK Invest’s Sam Korus, who wondered if the production ramp for a humanoid robot could be many times that of a car, with a comment regarding the Optimus’s pricing. Even though humanoid robots have a somewhat higher complexity per unit mass, Tesla’s CEO nevertheless estimates that a robot would cost around half as much as a vehicle.
Complexity per unit mass is much higher with humanoid robots, but still I think it ends up costing less than half of a car
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2024
Regarding a Tesla owner’s question regarding the price range of $25,000 to $30,000 for Optimus, Musk responded that it would be “less over time.” It appears that the Tesla Bot has the potential to become a product that many consumers can buy, at least in the long run.
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Less Than Half the Price of a Car? Musk Hints at Affordable Robots
Elon Musk has previously hinted at Optimus’s low price point. Musk predicted that Optimus’s utility will increase rapidly around 2025 at his TED talk in April 2022. Adding to his earlier statement, Musk now believes the price of the Tesla Bot will be “actually not going to be unstable high, like less than a car.”
Less over time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2024
And in AI Day 2022, Tesla revealed several key characteristics for Optimus. These include 28 structural actuators that help its body achieve over 200 degrees of freedom. Its hands will also have 11 degrees of freedom, allowing Optimus to move its hands very similarly to a human. At the time, Musk hinted that the Tesla Bot would cost less than the company’s electric cars as well, or around less than $20,000. Considering Musk’s recent comments, Tesla may still be aiming for a sub-$20,000 target price for Optimus.
Optimus might be a very complex product, but its contributions could be notable. Musk, during his TED appearance, noted that the first Optimus units that Tesla would deploy would be for “jobs that are dangerous, boring, repetitive, and things people don’t want to do.” Musk has also hinted at the idea of using Optimus to help people in their homes.
