Faraday Future & Tesla each plan robot rollout
Two California car makers, one huge and one tiny, appear to be pivoting toward making robots at their California plants announced just in recent days. In Fremont, California in the Bay Area electric car maker Tesla announced they would produce robots at their only California plant targeting as many as 1 million units a year. The company announced that they would discontinue production of its Model X SUV and Model S full-size sedan made in Fremont However, a news release from the city of Fremont says Tesla will continue to make electric cars at the plant along with the new line there making Tesla’s Optimus robots.
“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” Elon Musk said. “We expect to wind down S and X production next quarter.” The company’s car business has been slumping and their earnings report suggests a “transition from a hardware-centric business to a physical AI company”.
The City of Fremont put out a news release January 28 that says” To be clear, Tesla is not ending vehicle production at its Fremont factory and reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate. Tesla is sunsetting the Model S and Model X lines, which were produced exclusively in Fremont. However, the company will continue mass production of the refreshed Model 3 and Model Y in Fremont, in addition to the new Optimus robot and potential future vehicle programs. These vehicles represent the vast majority of the Fremont Factory’s manufacturing activity. Through production line improvements and operational efficiencies, Tesla expects to maintain current vehicle throughput at Fremont. As a result, Fremont will remain Tesla’s highest-output vehicle factory in North America.
Tesla is retooling a portion of the Fremont campus for Optimus robot production and they have stated that this retooling will not result in job losses, but that Fremont headcount may increase. Fremont was selected as Tesla’s Optimus hub due to the city’s proven ability to support large-scale, complex manufacturing operations, its highly skilled workforce, and a business-friendly and responsive city administration. The City of Fremont looks forward to supporting Tesla’s continued growth of both its physical footprint and employment base in Fremont for years to come.”
Faraday’s new future
Meanwhile, upstart electric car maker Faraday Future (FF) has announced they too will roll out their own new EAI robotics technology and begin selling the units at the upcoming February 4 & 5th auto show in Las Vegas. The company said they will display multiple embodied AI robots and also announce product pricing, sales and delivery timelines for the product expected to be made in Hanford California which is the company’s only manufacturing plant. FF said they will continue their plans to make the FX Super One lower price electric SUV in Hanford as well.
FF said its first FF EAI Robotics product completed U.S. regulatory certification and will begin sales in parallel with the launch; the Feb. 4 event is livestreamed at 3:30 PM PST and will include live product showcases, FX Super One sales/co-creation experiences, and partner recruitment
Earlier in January, Faraday Future announced they hope to reach positive cash flow after a decade of losses” within about three years with gross margins of around 20%”.
The company said FF’s “five-year cumulative production and sales target is 400,000–500,000 vehicles, primarily driven by FX Super One, the future FX 4 and planned models, aligned with its model introductions and production volumes.Alosd The Company also announced an EAI (Embodied AI) robotics strategy under its upgraded Global EAI Industry Bridge. This dual-track growth model could provide a new growth curve for FF.”
Super One roadmap
FF says “The first phase of delivery is expected to occur in Q2 of this year. It will primarily focus on deliveries to FX Par partners with a cap of 50 units. The second phase of delivery is expected to occur in Q3 of this year, delivering to industry leaders and B2B partners with a cap of 200 units. The third phase of delivery is expected to occur in Q4 of this year or Q1 of next year. This stage will initiate full-scale deliveries, marking the transition to FX’s broad market rollout in the U.S. From 2027 onwards, sales targets of Super One are anticipated to include both BEV and HEREV (hybrid extended range EV) models, driving its volume to about 4,900 units in 2027, 18,000 units in 2028, 38,000 units in 2029, and 55,000 units in 2030.Regulatory and compliance certifications for Super One are progressing smoothly and on schedule. Key component certifications have almost been completed, laying out a solid foundation for full vehicle certification by the third quarter of this year.”
As for their plunge into AI-inspired robot world “The goal is clear: to become a leading U.S. robotics company and one of the first U.S. companies to deliver humanoid robot products to the market. This dual-track growth model, driven by both EAI vehicles and EAI robotics, could define a new growth curve for Faraday Future. “
It seems clear FF and Tesla may compete for customers.
Cautionary notes
On a cautionary note the FF news release carries the warning that questions remain about” the Company’s ability to maintain its listing on Nasdaq; the availability of sufficient share capital to execute on its strategy, which the Company currently lacks.” The company stock is hovering just above the $1 a share – the legal low allowed by NASDAQ before they could lose their listing, needed to attract investors.The stock has dropped 25% in the past year.
A statement also advises more hurdles including the need to” enter into an engineering services agreement, which will be required for the Super One in the U.S.; the ability of B2B preorder companies to identify purchasers for the Super One; overall demand for the Super One; the ability to secure the necessary agreements to produce an FX 4 vehicle or any other planned future FX vehicles, none of which have been secured; the Company’s ability to secure an occupancy certificate for its Hanford facility; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern and improve its liquidity and financial position; the Company’s ability to pay its outstanding obligations; the Company’s ability to remediate its material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and the risks related to the restatement of previously issued consolidated financial statements; the Company’s ability to successfully compete in the robotics business against other companies that have substantially greater funding, experience and name recognition; the Company’s limited operating history and the significant barriers to growth it faces; the Company’s history of losses and expectation of continued losses.”
The company’s track record in Hanford is nothing to brag about. The firm launched in 2014 has produced only 16 cars in all those years.
Both Tesla and Faraday future promised the communities they set up manufacturing plants in plenty of jobs and Tesla has come through while Faraday Future has produced very few jobs in Hanford.
On a more hopeful note Faraday Future says the well-known investor group BlackRock increased its stake in FF, citing a Schedule 13G filing that showed holdings of about 9.5 million shares as of December 31, 2025, up from about 6.8 million shares as of September 30, 2025, an increase of about 40%.
Tesla robot hands out chips and soda