Tesla boss Elon Musk has shown off the prototype of a humanoid robot that he believes could eventually become more important than the company's electric cars. The machine with undisguised mechanical joints and cables took a few steps on a stage at an event at the weekend and waved to the audience. Tesla is aiming for a price below 20,000 dollars (around 20,400 euros) for the robot called "Optimus" and wants to build millions of them, Musk said.

Shakier than the competition

The "Optimus" prototype moved much more awkwardly than the better-known humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics, which can run, dance and jump. Boston Dynamics, which was temporarily part of Google, is now also owned by a car manufacturer: the South Korean Hyundai Group.

However, Musk credits his robots with the fact that they can use technology from the "Autopilot" driver assistance system, which Tesla cars use, to recognize their surroundings. Recorded videos showed the 73-kilogram robot carrying a cardboard box, watering flowers with a watering can and moving a metal component in Tesla's car factory.

Musk emphasized that the company wanted to develop a useful robot that could be built as quickly as possible. At the same time, Tesla had thought about how to avoid a "Terminator" scenario, he said, alluding to the killer robots from the film series. The machines should therefore be equipped with something like an off switch for emergencies.

Musk was convinced that robots could ensure "a future with abundance, a future without poverty" and spoke of a "fundamental transformation of civilization". In the past, the tech billionaire had already predicted that the robot project could become more important than Tesla's car production over time. At the "Optimus" announcement a year ago, Tesla had put a human in a robot costume, which caused some ridicule at the time.

Tesla also used the event to explain the technology behind "Autopilot" and its machine learning programs. Musk is convinced that Tesla can manage autonomous driving with cameras alone, without the more expensive laser radars that other developers of robotic car technology rely on.

Currently, 160,000 Tesla customers in the USA are driving a test version of the assistance software, which is designed to control the cars in city traffic, among other things, instead of just maintaining lane and distance. In videos of the beta testers, the software often cut a poor figure. Musk said that Tesla should be at least technically ready to introduce the test software in other countries by the end of the year. However, local regulatory requirements could delay the launch outside the USA.

While Musk was focusing on future technologies, his company announced the next record figure for deliveries at the weekend. However, this fell short of analysts' expectations. Tesla delivered 343,830 electric cars to buyers from July to September. The previous record was a good 310,000 in the first quarter of this year.

Expansion of production

Tesla is currently expanding its production, including ramping up capacity at the two new plants in Grünheide near Berlin and in Texas. In Grünheide, a good six months after the start, weekly production of 2000 vehicles has been achieved. At the weekend, the company showed a photo of employees on Twitter next to a Tesla with the word "2000" stuck on it - just like when the 1,000 mark was reached in mid-June.

In total, Tesla achieved production of just under 365,923 electric cars in the past quarter - mostly of the volume models 3 and Y. Analysts had expected 358,000 deliveries. Tesla pointed out that it was particularly difficult to secure transportation capacity at a reasonable price during the hot delivery phase at the end of the quarter. A lot of attention is paid to Tesla's delivery figures - because they are an indicator of how well the electric pioneer is doing against the increasing competition from established car companies in the business.