Elon Musk tells Ron Baron Tesla will probably rent Optimus humanoid robots rather than sell them, with build cost near a car's at first
Asked by Ron Baron at the 33rd Annual Baron Investment Conference on Nov. 6, 2026 whether Tesla would rent or sell Optimus, Elon Musk said, "I think probably rent them." He said each robot would initially cost about the same as a car to build, "but then over time it would be much less," and agreed with a range starting near $30,000 and falling toward $20,000, according to Not a Tesla App. He gave no rental price. Musk also claimed a "minimum productivity expectation" of five times a human. These are Musk's claims, not announced terms. Not a Tesla App reports early Optimus production began last month on a Fremont line planned for 1 million units a year, with outside deliveries targeted around end-2027. Servospace take: renting keeps Tesla on the hook for uptime and repairs, so the rental rate per hour of useful work is the number buyers need.
Source: Not a Tesla App (Nov. 6, 2026): Musk: Tesla Will Rent Optimus Robots Instead of Selling Them
More on Tesla, humanoid robot and humanoid robots.
Sources
- Not a Tesla App (Nov. 6, 2026): Musk: Tesla Will Rent Optimus Robots Instead of Selling Them
- Tesla North (Nov. 6, 2026): Elon Musk reveals Tesla, SpaceX plans at Ron Baron conference
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Summarized by Servospace from the sources above, drafted with AI help and checked against those sources before publishing. Claims are the companies' or outlets' unless we say otherwise. How we work.