Tesla Tore Down the Model S and X Line in 46 Days to Make Room for Optimus Robots

Tesla spent 46 days stripping the Fremont assembly line that built the Model S and Model X, according to InsideEVs reporting summarized November 1, 2026, and plans to fill that floor with equipment for the Optimus humanoid robot. The last Model S and Model X rolled off the line in May 2026, after Musk announced the end of both models on the fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call in January. For a line that built cars for 14 years, a teardown completed in about six and a half weeks — reportedly finished in late June — is a fast exit, and the clearest physical sign yet that Musk wants hardware volume in robots rather than in low-selling luxury EVs.

The reporting around what happens next needs careful reading. One outlet reports limited Optimus production starting in July or August, a few dozen units a week in the second quarter and several hundred a week by late September, with supply-chain orders pointing to 2,500 units a week by the end of 2026 — but Tesla has not published a weekly Optimus build rate, and the second-quarter deck language does not match a second-quarter output of dozens a week, so those figures should be treated as unconfirmed. The same outlet reported hand durability issues threatening an internal target of 1,000 units a week, and zero Optimus units doing useful work inside Tesla own operations. What is confirmed is thinner: Musk posted a photo with the Optimus production team on July 1 and said production would start extremely slowly, with formal production on the new line not yet started in late July.

The longer-term target reported for meaningful volume is summer 2027 at Giga Texas, which frames the Fremont teardown as preparation, not production. Clearing a factory floor in June and reaching volume more than a year later is normal for a new product category — and it is why the 46-day number, while striking, should not be mistaken for a robot production rate. The figure to watch is the first Tesla-confirmed Optimus build number, whenever the company chooses to publish one.