Tesla will cease production of both the Model S and Model X next quarter at its Fremont, California factory to enable manufacturing of Optimus humanoid robotsElon Musk aims for annual production of up to 1 million Optimus robots once the transition is complete, calling it a shift toward an autonomous futureThe Model S has been in production since 2012 and the Model X since 2015, but combined sales totaled just 50,850 units in 2025 compared to 1.6 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles Well. This is happening. Tesla, the company that revolutionized electric cars and made them actually desirable, has decided to stop building its two longest-running models. The Model S and Model X are done. Finished. Production ends next quarter. And the reason? They need the factory space for robots. Humanoid robots. Because apparently that's where we are now. Elon Musk announced this during Tesla's earnings call, describing it as giving the Model S and X programs an "honorable discharge" before pivoting entirely toward what he calls an autonomous future. That future involves manufacturing up to one million Optimus humanoid robots annually at the Fremont facility currently building these cars. One million robots. Per year. Just think about that for a moment. The Model S has been around since 2012. Fourteen years of production. It was the car that proved electric vehicles could be genuinely desirable rather than rolling apologies for caring about the environment. It was quick, it was stylish, it had proper range, and in Plaid specification it was absurdly fast. The sort of fast that made petrolheads who'd spent years mocking electric cars suddenly go very quiet. The Model X arrived in 2015 with those ridiculous falcon-wing doors that were simultaneously brilliant and completely impractical. Brilliant because they looked fantastic and solved certain parking lot access problems. Impractical because they added complexity, weight, and cost while also being prone to malfunction. The Model X was Tesla trying to make an SUV interesting, and while the doors certainly achieved that goal, the rest of the vehicle never quite lived up to the drama of its entry system. Tesla Model S and X: The end of an era Both cars received updates recently. The Model S got refreshed toward the end of 2025 with minor design tweaks and improved range. The Model X received similar treatment. These weren't comprehensive overhauls, just gentle massaging to keep them relevant in an increasingly competitive electric vehicle market. Turns out that relevance doesn't matter much when you're about to cancel the entire product line. The sales numbers tell the real story. In 2025, Tesla sold more than 1.6 million combined units of the Model 3 and Model Y. Those two vehicles absolutely dominate Tesla's business and rank among the best-selling EVs globally. By comparison, Tesla shifted just 50,850 units of the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck combined. That's everything else in Tesla's lineup bundled together, and it barely registers compared to the volume sellers. From a business perspective, this makes perfect sense. Why dedicate valuable factory space to low-volume luxury models when you could manufacture robots instead? Musk clearly believes the future lies in autonomous humanoid robots rather than expensive electric sedans and SUVs. Whether he's right about that remains to be seen, but he's certainly committed to the vision with enough conviction to kill off two historic product lines. So farewell, Model S and Model X. You changed the automotive industry and proved electric vehicles could be genuinely desirable. Your replacements will be humanoid robots designed to perform household tasks and light industrial work. Which is either visionary or completely insane. Probably both.
