April 9, 2026
Hot takes on bots and brakes
Robots Eat Cars
Tesla kills beloved models to build 1M robots — and the comments go feral
TLDR: Tesla ended Model S/X production to retool for its Optimus humanoid robots, teasing mass sales in 2027, and the internet erupted. Commenters mocked the timelines, warned about safety and resource waste, and debated whether “cars are robots now” is visionary or just another hype train — stakes are industry-shifting
The robots-are-coming headline was wild enough, but the comments are where the tires truly screeched. Tesla confirmed it’s ending Model S and X production and converting those lines to build its humanoid “Optimus” robots — with talk of up to a million bots a year at $20,000 each by 2027, plus a new Texas facility aiming even bigger, according to Electrek. The article argues today’s cars are already robots on wheels, praising the Cybertruck’s slimmed-down wiring and computer-style networking (Hardware FYI).
The crowd? Mostly skeptical and spicy. One top quip: “Cars nobody buys replaced by robots nobody buys.” Another dunk connects this to Tesla’s past promises: a million robotaxis that never appeared. Environmental worrywarts chimed in too, calling a million bots “obsolete in five years” and a resource drain. Safety hawks raised eyebrows at “steer‑by‑wire” — steering by computers, not a physical shaft — warning that without serious testing and safeguards (think infamous past medical-device software failures), this could go very wrong. Then a meta-plot twist: a commenter accuses the writer of mashing unrelated topics, saying Tesla’s robot pivot isn’t about fancy wiring at all.
Result: a comment coliseum where futurists hype robot factories, skeptics roast timelines, and safety nerds slam the brakes. The only thing moving faster than robots? The punchlines
Key Points
- •The article argues vehicle design is converging with robotics architectures, citing steer-by-wire and system-level parallels.
- •It states Tesla has ended Model S/X production and is converting Fremont lines to build Optimus humanoid robots, targeting 1M units/year at ~$20k with public sales in 2027.
- •The article reports Tesla placed a ~$685M actuator order with Sanhua Intelligent Controls; an Optimus facility at Giga Texas targets 10M units/year; Optimus v3 is planned this quarter.
- •Citing Ford’s teardown, the Mach‑E wiring harness was reportedly 70 pounds heavier and 1.6 km longer than Tesla’s equivalent.
- •Cybertruck’s E/E design features 155 wires, a 48V system, Ethernet replacing CAN, and zonal controllers; S&P Global estimates Tesla’s E/E lead at about five years.