Cybercab shows signs of deployment training outside Austin for the first time (Philadelphia)…
Gradual positives on both the supply and operating sides. (1) A Cybercab was seen for the first time on the East Coast, in the car park of Philadelphia's Devon Tesla store, and the store says the cars are there for preliminary training ahead of deployment in that market.
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Expansion of genuinely driverless service has moved one notch from verbal promises to vehicles physically gathering, and the choice of locations no longer revolves around Tesla's Texas headquarters. (2) Optimus has gone from supply-chain audits to a first production order of about 5,000 units. Tesla's engineering team went to Zhejiang for on-site audits on 16-17 Sep and named 3 existing automotive parts suppliers, Sanhua Intelligent Controls, Ningbo Joyson Electronic and Tuopu Group, while the steel structure of the dedicated Optimus plant at Giga Texas is close to topping out. Both are supply-side build-up and production preparation, not delivery and not valuation-level.
Key evidence
- Several EVSHIFT and Reddit posts on 19 Sep: gold Cybercabs parked in the car park of the Devon Tesla store in Philadelphia, where a salesperson told online users on the spot that the cars are being trained for a future deployment in Philadelphia.
- This follows the earlier position of real passenger service only in Austin and genuinely driverless fleets in Dallas and Houston, and today adds first-hand evidence from the East Coast.
- Bloomberg, SCMP, Blockonomi and MoneyCheck, 18-19 Sep: Tesla's engineering team visited Zhejiang for on-site audits on 16-17 Sep.
- The audit named 3 companies: Sanhua Intelligent Controls (thermal management), Ningbo Joyson Electronic (automotive components) and Tuopu Group (chassis). All are existing suppliers of Tesla automotive parts that are switching to making robot parts.
- A first production order for about 5,000 Optimus units has been placed.
- The steel frame of the dedicated Optimus factory at Giga Texas is close to topping out.
Catalysts to watch
- Actual passenger service on public roads in Philadelphia and on the East Coast (Pennsylvania regulatory authorisation is still needed, and vehicles with no steering wheel or pedals cannot currently go on the road)
- Actual delivery of the first Optimus order of 5,000 units, and the pace of internal use
- Progress against the annual output target of 50,000 units (currently second-hand sources only)
- Topping out and start-up dates for the dedicated Optimus factory at Giga Texas
Risks
- This rests on sighting posts and what a store said verbally, with no official confirmation of the timing or scale of deployment, and it is still supply-side build-up and not passenger service on public roads.
- Pennsylvania has no regulatory authorisation for vehicles with no steering wheel or pedals on the road, which is a long way from commercial operation.
- This echoes the earlier case in Bellevue, Washington state, which was likewise only test build-up. Expansion to more cities is mostly pins on a map and not volume.
- 5,000 units is a first production order, and it does not contradict the official line that external commercial sales only start in the second half of 2027, since the units will be used internally and for training first.
- The annual target of 50,000 units and the first order of 5,000 units come mainly from second-hand Chinese financial and Bloomberg sources, and no item-by-item confirmation from Tesla has been seen.
- Musk habitually pushes production timetables back, and this year the Optimus line has already slipped from thousands of units to production only starting in the coming months.
Sources (6)
- EVSHIFT
- Reddit r/teslamotors, 19 Sep
- Bloomberg, 18-19 Sep
- SCMP, 18-19 Sep
- Blockonomi, 18-19 Sep
- MoneyCheck, 18-19 Sep
A brief is a lead for our research, not a verified conclusion or advice.