Optimus V3
Optimus V3 is the version Tesla describes as production-intent, with a new 22 DoF hand and forearm and a factory line in Fremont planned for 2026. Musk has repeatedly said V3 would be unveiled in early 2026 and that volume production is targeted for later in the decade. Tesla has stated a long-term ambition of one million units per year.
The verdict
The most discussed humanoid in the world and the one you are least able to buy. Tesla has floated $20,000 to $30,000 at volume, repeatedly moved its own timeline, and never opened an order page. The gap between the attention and the availability is the whole story.
- Buy it if
- Nobody. There is nothing to buy.
- Skip it if
- You are here to make a purchase.
In its favour
- Manufacturing scale nobody else has
- Genuine progress on hands
Against it
- No order path at all
- Timelines have slipped repeatedly
- Price target is aspirational
How the score is built
Capability is what the machine physically does. Value compares it with others at a similar price, not with the whole market. Buyability asks whether you can really order one. Ecosystem is the software and community around it. Proof is what it has done in the field, which is where most humanoids score badly and should.
What people buy instead.
- Status
- Prototype
- Category
- general purpose
- First revealed
- n/a
- Form
- bipedal
- Height
- n/a
- Weight
- n/a
- Payload
- n/a
- Degrees of freedom
- n/a
- Battery
- n/a
- Runtime
- n/a
- Walking speed
- n/a
- Actuation
- electric
- Units deployed (est.)
- not disclosed
- Teleoperation
- unknown
Where it stands
Third-generation design that Tesla says is the first production-intent Optimus; production line planned at Fremont in 2026.
What stands out
- 22 DoF hand and forearm announced
- Fremont production line planned for 2026
- Musk: external sales possibly from 2027
Hands, sensors, brain
- Hands: five-finger, 22 DoF hand with forearm-mounted actuators (announced)
- AI stack: Tesla end-to-end neural networks, training from human video
Price and volume
no public price; Musk has guided USD 20,000 to 30,000 at volume
Index position
In the Humanoid Index, which ranks on shipped reality rather than value for money, Optimus V3 sits at #102 of 107 with 2 points: deployment 0/50, autonomy 2/30, availability 0/20. See that method.
How a humanoid robot works: actuators, compute, sensors and the model
Of 182 humanoids on record, 178 say what moves the joints and 43 say what computer is inside. The further a layer sits from the metal, the less the maker tells you about it.
Startups, automakers, universities: who builds humanoids
108 makers, nine kinds. Startups hold 37 of the 44 humanoids you can order. Automakers, universities, big tech, conglomerates and NASA hold 45 robots between them and sell none of them.
44 you can order, 138 you cannot: the gap explained
We keep a record of 182 humanoid robots. Fewer than a quarter of them will sell you one, and of those, only eight tell you the price on their own website. Here is where the rest went.
Humanoid robot stocks: which of the 108 makers are actually listed
Twenty of the 108 makers in our record have a ticker. Four of them will sell you a humanoid. The rest build cars, chips, servers and washing machines, and the pure plays are all private.
Tesla Optimus: what the record shows, and what you can buy
Four Optimus records, five years, no price and no order page. Here is what Tesla has shown, what it has said about money and dates, and how much of it has been checked by anyone outside Tesla.
Why hands are the hardest part of a humanoid
Of 182 humanoids on record, 96 describe their hands and 13 publish a degrees-of-freedom figure for them. The word dexterous appears 21 times and comes with a number once.
Other robots by Tesla.
Optimus (Bumblebee prototype)
Bumblebee was the first physical Tesla humanoid, built in about six months after the 2021 Tesla Bot announcement using off-the-shelf parts. It walked on stage at AI Day on 30 September 2022 and was shown moving boxes in a video. It was a stepping stone toward the Tesla-designed Optimus Gen 1 shown the same day.
Optimus Gen 1
Optimus Gen 1 was the first Tesla-designed humanoid, unveiled at AI Day 2022 with 28 actuators, an 11 DoF hand and a 2.3 kWh battery. It first walked untethered in videos in March and May 2023. Tesla positioned it as a product to be built at scale using its car-manufacturing know-how.
Optimus Gen 2
Optimus Gen 2, revealed on 12 December 2023, is about 10 kg lighter than Gen 1, walks 30 percent faster and has Tesla-designed actuators, an actuated neck and tactile fingers. It has been used for internal factory trials and at Tesla marketing events, where it was partly teleoperated. It is the version the public has seen most.
Sources
- 01
- 02Optimus (robot)Wikipedia
Price sources
- 01Humanoid robot prices, 2026 guideRobotSourced · 2026-07-31
- 02Humanoid robots for sale: 2026 guideThere's A Robot For That · 2026-08-15
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