Elon Musk stated, that Tesla’s universal humanoid robot Optimus will be available for less than half the price of an electric car. Given that the average price of a Tesla electric car last year was $45,000, the cost of a humanoid robot should be $20,000-$25,000.
The billionaire wants Optimus to “be in every home” and take over routine and dangerous tasks in production. Obviously, for this to happen, androids need to be available at a reasonable price. Musk says the demand for Optimus could reach $10 billion to $20 billion. units.
When Optimus was first announced, not everyone took it seriously. But Tesla believed that by combining its achievements in artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles and its experience in the manufacture of batteries and electric motors, it could create a humanoid robot.
The company says its vehicles are already robots on wheels. It remains only to give them a humanoid form so that they can replace people in some tasks – primarily routine and dangerous ones.
At the end of last year, Tesla introduced Optimus Gen 2, the next generation of its humanoid robot. Compared to previous versions of the robot, the new prototype has many improvements: it is 10 kg lighter, 30% faster and generally more useful than its predecessor. His movements became more human-like, especially his hands.
At the time, Elon Musk claims that Optimus is highly undervalued. According to the general director, his demand may reach 10-20 billion. units. He also believes that Optimus will account for most of Tesla’s long-term value.
According to E. Musk, “Tesla Optimus” will be in every home and will take many jobs in production and maintenance. For this to work, robots must be available at a reasonable price. Musk has previously stated that he thinks the price could be lower than the cost of the company’s cars.
Now he claims that Tesla could reduce the cost of a humanoid robot to less than half the price of a car. “Humanoid robots have a lot more complexity per unit of mass, but I still think they will eventually cost less than half the price of a car,” the billionaire wrote on the X network.
Last year, the average selling price of a Tesla car worldwide was just over $45,000, and the average selling price of a new car in the U.S. was about $47,000. This means that Musk estimates that the cost of a humanoid robot will be between $20,000 and $25,000.
Tesla has not set a clear deadline for when the robot will go into production, although 2022 is expected. Elon Musk said it could happen as early as 2023. Recently, Tesla has been actively advertising job openings for its robotics program, including jobs in supply chain and manufacturing.
