Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week,” Elon Musk once said.
That was back in 2018 as Tesla ramped up production of its Model 3 sedan. He and his employees pulled 100-hour work weeks to keep the company alive.
Musk called this “production hell,” and it requires “hardcore” execution. It’s the moment when digital designs and early prototypes have to be manufactured in massive volume. Fancy ideas can fall apart once you have to churn out millions of the things you dreamed up.
Not many tech companies experience this agony because they mostly make software. If something breaks, they can patch a bug with an update online. With physical products, especially stuff made at huge scale, problems must be fixed immediately or they cascade through supply chains and production lines, often with disastrous and expensive results.
Tesla survived and is now worth $1.3 trillion, more than almost every other car company combined. What makes it special is that the company has gotten very good at combining software with large-scale manufacturing. Not even Apple can match this because it outsources the gnarly factory stuff.
Tesla’s prowess is about to be severely tested all over again, and employees are bracing for impact, according to another great scoop from Business Insider star reporter Grace Kay.
Vice president of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, recently warned Tesla employees that 2026 will be the “hardest year” of their lives and they should expect to work more intensely than ever to achieve the company’s goals.
Cybercab production is slated to begin in April, and Musk is aiming for annual output of 2 million units. That unprecedented volume supports Tesla’s vision for a widespread network of Robotaxis that can be hailed quickly and easily.
Autonomous vehicles are basically robots on wheels. But that’s not enough for Elon. Tesla wants to start production of its Optimus humanoid robots toward the end of 2026, with a goal of making 1 million units a year.
“It’s going to move as fast as the slowest, dumbest, least lucky thing out of 10,000 unique items,” Musk warned in October, highlighting what a slog it’s going to be.
Musk has said someone should make a movie about manufacturing, arguing it’s under-appreciated by the public.
I’d watch that movie. The title should be: Production Hell 2: Robot Hardcore.
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