Tesla’s Texas Optimus factory steel frame nears completion
Tesla’s dedicated Optimus factory at Gigafactory Texas is approaching completion of its structural steel frame, according to drone footage posted by site observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Steel assembly was about five column grids short of the building’s north perimeter beam when the footage was recorded, roughly six months after work began on the North Campus site in late March.
The video documents substantial progress on the building shell. It does not show whether production equipment, robot assembly cells or supporting test systems have been installed.
Concrete and steel work proceed in parallel
Concrete is being poured across three upper floors while crews continue laying rebar and building grade beam footings at ground level, Teslarati reported. Tesla used a similar construction sequence for the original Giga Texas building, with steel assembly continuing in one area while concrete work proceeded elsewhere.
The Optimus factory forms part of a wider North Campus expansion covering more than 5.2 million square feet. Tesla has said the expanded campus will eventually extend for more than 4,000 feet, nearly matching the length of the existing vehicle factory while remaining narrower.
Tesla has not announced a revised schedule beyond its stated goal of starting high volume Optimus production in Texas during summer 2027. Finishing the steel frame would leave extensive enclosure, utilities, equipment installation and commissioning work before robot production can begin.
Output plans remain exceptionally ambitious
Elon Musk has set a long term target of 10 million Optimus units per year for the Texas site at full capacity. The figure is ten times the planned capacity of a separate one million unit pilot line at Tesla’s Fremont factory, although neither target is supported by production data in the report.
According to Teslarati, the Fremont line began mass producing Tesla’s current Gen 3 humanoid in January and is expected to build tens of thousands of units this year. Those robots are intended primarily to collect real world data for software development before the larger Texas operation begins its ramp.
The drone footage provides an unusually detailed outside view of Tesla’s construction schedule, but it cannot establish whether the Optimus manufacturing process itself is ready for high volume operation. Tesla’s next stated deadline remains the planned Texas production start in summer 2027.
Source: teslarati.com
