Inside Views! Prod X3 Ramping, Optimus Factory Grows Bigger! 29 Apr 2026 Giga Texas Update (06:35AM)

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Hey everybody, this is Joe. Thank you for watching my Giga Texas construction update video. Well, good early morning here at Giga Texas. I got a chance to get here early because of some rain that is forecast. So, I took advantage of that and guide you some interior views on the entire west side of Giga, Texas.

[00:00:20]And here's just a few short clips of that flight. And we got some really great look into a lot of the activity that is going on. It's very obvious that the cyber truck production was going pretty well. And we can tell that that is the case because not only on the inside of the factory, but if we go over to the outbound lot, I got a chance to see cyber trucks coming out of the cyber tunnel and they are starting to accumulate over in the outbound lot. So, I think this is great because we are expecting this as time is going getting closer to June as all of those orders that happened for that 59,990 all-wheel drive Cybert truck start to be filled sometime in June. So, we're right around that perfect time for that to happen. Now, we do know that Cyber Cabs have been being produced. A lot of them still have that steering wheel kit, but we are starting to see them on trucks being delivered around the region. And yesterday we saw a couple of shots of one the Tesla semi carrying about eight of the cyber cabs on a trailer off site.

[00:01:28]And also with this video clip, we got a chance to see more of the cyber cabs on a different truck. And this was heading off uh from the site as well. So at least 16 were on trucks leaving and today over out that outbound lot we get a chance to see even more of them and they are getting ready to be transported as well. So the activity level is definitely picking up. Uh probably still more testing and uh validation and getting ready for the robo taxi fleet insertion for these cyber cabs but still a lot to see and very cool. Now, there is a couple of things that I want to talk about briefly in the uh intro here about the flight besides the interior views of the factory. And that has to do with a couple of new permits that uh cover the north campus. As you can see by this permit, it is now been renamed the North Campus Manufacturing Facility.

[00:02:26]And of course, that refers to the Optimus Robot Factory that is under construction. The other interesting details, you can notice the address.

[00:02:34]This is on Herald Green Road. As I've mentioned before, there is work in progress to build a new Harold Green Road on the north part of the site connecting State Highway 130 over to the Austin Colony Housing Unit. And if you can tell by this other document, uh there is a very recent, as of Monday, uh description of that work on the Travis County uh project site. So, not only do we have that uh Optimus robot factory under construction, but I am expecting to see Harold Green Road as well. Now, another interesting permit that I want to show you briefly over on the southwest side for that test track has to do with this image. This is the River Road extension. Now, why is this important? is because early on the site plans on the north of the site over at Rone Tree Field, they had the test track depicted and it's virtually identical to what we see under construction over on the southwest side. And I actually asked Grock to take that site image and overlay it onto some of the recent photos that I taken to give us an idea of what it's going to look like when it's completed. Of course, Grock didn't get all of the details right, but this is directionally uh correct, and it gives us that uh kind of view of what to expect here in the very near future. So, as you can probably imagine, this is a wide-ranging flight. Despite the weather, we're going to see a lot. So, let's get in the drone. Let's fly around and talk about more of what's going on here at the site today. If you would like to support my efforts, please consider using these links, which will be in the video description. If you aren't interested in Tesla products, you can help yourself and support me by using my referral code. Don't forget to hit the like and subscribe buttons on my YouTube video as this helps as well.

[00:04:24]Thank you. My drones are ready and raring to go. Let's go flying over Giga Texas.

[00:04:54]Well, good morning from a hazy, misty, and low cloud day at Giga Texas. Rain is in the forecast as well, so I thought I would fly early and get some views that we don't normally see. And will that include some interior views on the west side of the main factory. But for right now, we're going to start on the east side, taking a look at the workshops for many of the pipe fabrications that are underway. In addition to that, the construction site on the left for that water uh retention pond. Also, River Road extension coming into view. On the left hand side of the screen, we do see some excavation work. They've been uh filling in some of the trenches with the steel gorgated pipe for the water management. There's more being delivered which we will see here in a moment. But as I maneuver around, we get a good view of that new retaining wall that is under construction. Concrete has been poured.

[00:05:49]Also just uh on the north side here at the recycle center. Want to get a better view of the cyber cabs that are being prepared for recycling. Looks like there's about 12 of them here underneath the blue and black uh car covers. And of course the pallets on there to keep the car covers from blowing away. Uh the rest of the recycle center looks like normal ops today, but as we've been talking about, it's going to have to be moved here pretty soon for construction to continue, at least if the original rendering is correct, which may actually have had some changes. But as I pull away, a good view of the concrete vaults on the Burm next to River Roads. Also, some of the curbs have been put in at the bottom left of the screen. And as I continue to maneuver around here at this lower altitude, we can see the workers for a sense of scale and some of these very large water pipes that have been brought in. These steel corrugated pipes for storm water management. There is a truck bringing in even more. And with the uh pipe on the truck, this gives you a great sense of scale since that is often hard to tell just from the drone.

[00:06:57]Uh but here's a look across this site also over where Robotic Avenue and the intersection with River Road is happening. And of course we can see that asphalt is being laid down on that south lane today. It's a maneuver the drone around over Robotic Avenue looking at the multi-level parking garage. See that most of the earthwork and pipe installation on the east side of that garage is completed. And as I look back to the east across this construction site, this is what it looks like with this very large pond in the process of being built. And I believe if this is similar to the cyber pond in the south part of Giga Texas, we'll probably see it lined. But that'll be something that I will watch as that develops. This material staging yard continues to get more items plus trailers. And of course, the conduit uh installation and the trenching just to the north of the uh parking garage is continuing. Uh it's just to the south of those large uh trailers on the right hand side of the screen. As I get to this point, I'll zoom in, show you what's going on in the secondary entrance of the factory, that kind of trapezoidal uh glass structure.

[00:08:12]And as I look along the side of the building, you see those uh cooling units uh that have been installed and also the silos next to the door for the cyber cabs to exit the factory. At the time of my flight, which was very early, did not see any cyber cabs coming out. As I continue to pan the drone to the south, we can see this uh plastic wrapped workshop. Some deliveries and that gantry crane getting ready to help lift some of those items. A lot more of the wooden crded items have been delivered here as well. That green uh SPMT is visible with some of the wrapping taken off on the south part. The cooling system looks like it's working. And also there's a little bit of green on the inside of the fans. And I think that's a little bit of an algae growth that is uh uh being very uh conducive right now because of all of the uh moisture in the air and the temperatures as we enter into spring. The south end of the building looks uh pretty uh uh neat today. And I haven't been here on the south side at a low altitude in a while.

[00:09:23]So, I will take advantage of my uh location from flying today. And I'll bring the drone down lower so we can see what is going on here. Nice view of the cooling unit and what the pipes and manifolds look like on the ground. As we pan the drone in, the light is just getting a little bit too bright right now, but we can see that white structure on the inside here on the corner and uh just some more of the materials that are being stored on the inside of the glass.

[00:09:53]Uh earlier I flew when uh it was a lot darker and I was able to get some still images which will be loaded on my subscriptions on X and Patreon channels.

[00:10:05]But for right now, I'll just maneuver over the cyber pond along the southwest side of the factory. And I'll reposition over towards this large opening. And then we'll be going back in time just a little bit earlier this morning when it was darker. And we'll be able to get a good view inside the factory along most of the side. Now of I zoom back in here with you can tell that it's darker. Some of the construction that's still going on in the inside. We're looking at the ground floor, the second floor, and here on the top floor, we can see the robotic assemblers at work building uh the doors for the cyber truck. And you can really get a good view of that operations of the robots on the right hand side of the screen. And here are more all throughout this section where you are seeing on the third floor the robots working is building Cybert truck parts. And of course, uh, with the, uh, 59,990 all-wheel drive standard Cybert truck sales at the end of February, uh, those are beginning in June. So, the ramping up of the production line for Cybert trucks is definitely in uh, in swing now, and we're going to see a lot more of that as we get into May. Here's a great view of more of the uh, various workstations, a lot more of the robots.

[00:11:26]Uh some of these are the red robots.

[00:11:29]Much larger because of the uh parts of the cyber truck that they are working on. And just you can see some other materials being stored on racks closer to the glass. There's some more yellow robots in the back. And as we continue to move our way to the north, we might start getting a view of some of the filtration systems. You can see those tall white items. And in the back behind those black tarps is where some of the body and whites of the cybert trucks are being manufactured. You also see more of the racks here on the third floor and what appears to be a large number of structural packs being stored here on this part of the site. In the far distance, you can see more robotic assemblers. And again, that's the body in white for the Cyber Truck. And we continue to work our way towards the north. And as we get to this section, you can see that it's kind of changed a little bit, and that's because we are entering into the part of the factory that's been set up to build the motors for the cyber cab. That's what all of these stations are with the inflow and outflow parts of these workstations. You can see some robotic symblers in the background. Most of them are yellow. on the top screen of the screen, sorry, is the uh utilities and other items that support the operation of this part of the factory. And as we continue to work our way to the north, get a good idea of the amount of space that is being used to support the Cyber Cab part construction for the drivetrain.

[00:13:06]As you can see, the window line is starting to come back down now. We passed over the uh west main entrance and now we're into the uh production of structural packs. You can see some of the robots at work here today. And as we continue to pass uh towards the north, you can see more of that operation in the background here. A lot more crated items and more robotic stations in the far back. You can see pretty deep into the factory there. And of course here as uh more of the robot assemblers closer to the windows. Again, more of the materials that have been brought in that support the production of the battery cells and the structural packs. Uh another great view way deep into the factory there and more of the workstations. And uh as we get to uh this part of the site, we're very close to the crane. So, I'm going to pull away and we'll stop for now looking inside the factory. I'm going to return back towards the main entrance because there's some neat things to be able to show you, especially with the red lit uh kind of arches over that black stone glass trapezoid with the under lighting with the white, of course, the American flag and Texas flag and the te and the Tesla flag on the right hand side of the screen. as I pass between the two poles.

[00:14:32]Bring the drone down lower and give you a look at the entrance and how it looks when it's lit up this way. I'm going to zoom in and we'll start looking at the trapezoid. I like how the reflections are with the red and the white on that black trapezoid. We see the uh 001 then for the cyber cab and the inside and some other vehicles being displayed. And of course on top is that drive line manufacturing part of the factory for cyber cabs. So I'm going to bring the drone up to a higher altitude. We'll get ready to cross over the highway and we'll take a look at what's going on at the end of line.

[00:15:25]It's nice to see the end of line all lit up. You can also see the sorting lanes starting to pick up vehicles here today.

[00:15:32]Some Model Y's. We'll also see a lot of Cyber Trucks as that production is starting to ramp back up again. Of course, uh this is the superchargers on the south end. And if you look at the left hand side of the screen, I'll kind of maneuver around this way. We can tell that a lot more of the Cybert trucks have been built and I would expect to see this to continue uh mostly all the way in May as they get ready to start the deliveries of those uh standard all-wheel drive Cybert trucks and of course all the rest of the Cybert trucks uh for all the customers and uh that'll begin a long period of a lot of cyber trucks as long as the conversion rate of the reservations turn into orders and I hope that that is the case. Uh we don't see a lot of cyber cabs here, but there are some on the north end. We'll come back and take a look at that here momentarily. But while we're on the south end, I'm going to fly over the uh east, correction, the west warehouse on wheels, which is all of the trailers that you see underneath the drone. And I want to come over and look at what is going on with the test track. As we talked in the intro, the test track was originally going to be built on the northeast side uh in the Lone Tree Field part of the factory. In fact, it actually moved around a couple of more times than that. And at some point, they made the decision to move it down to the southwest corner where it is under construction here right now. And here we also see some uh materials on the uh what will be a parking lot and some of the risers for the lighting. As we get in closer, you can tell that the trench work for the drainage system is continuing. Uh most of that's being filled back in now, which is a good sign. So maybe we'll start seeing some of the asphalt being placed. And as we continue to maneuver on the north side, looking to the southwest, going to get a good view of the ponds and some of this infield location, a lot of the drainage pipes are coming over here to this location. So, they're probably going to be keeping the ponds to help uh with that uh drainage. And here's a great example, some of the pipes on the right and on the center and where they are draining into this pond. A lot of the uh road surface markings with that black spray is being disturbed because of all of the trench work. But uh once that is completed, I would expect to see them come back and do that again. And uh then they'll start putting the asphalt down.

[00:18:07]At least I hope. Now, as I get to this view, I'm going to put back up that site plan document. This is what it was like at the north of the uh battery cathode plant. You can see the outline and this inner field track and it pretty much looks just like what they have laid out here including the wavy road or the chicanees and this large uh kind of rectangular section. So clearly the design has been around for a while. The location is what was changed uh just a few months ago. And as we continue to look back towards the factory, you can kind of get a sense that the clouds are coming down. The mist is getting a little bit stronger. And I'll continue to fight the conditions through the rest of the video as it kind of deteriorates and gets closer to where we're going to see some rain. But nevertheless, great uh views of the test track, its current situation, and uh kind of with the uh discussion we had with the permits, an idea of how it's going to look when it's completed. As we come over the power lines, just looking at some more of the uh cabinetry that is for the 4680 sale portion of the factory. some of the old windows on the bottom left over from the south end before they extended it. And here is the supercharger workstation with the folding unit bases at the bottom center of the screen and more of the work inside that workshop. A lot more materials laid out here and cabinetry so they can continue to build more and more of the superchargers.

[00:19:34]These workshops are where they have these blue pipes and other test units mostly been used in the cooling systems.

[00:19:41]And of course this uh orange and white tent with a lot more materials, more of the workshops here. Uh we do see that uh the numbers of these transformers continue to dwindle as they are moving some offsite and I'll just keep watching that to see uh how often they are moved and how quickly the inventory is depleted. I do not know where they are headed. We do see at the outbound lot on this west side a lot of Model Y's getting loaded up and uh heading out to various places around the country and the world. As I get to this part and fly over this loaded up truck, you can see that there is a grouping of Cyber Cavs.

[00:20:25]It looks like we have about 15 or so.

[00:20:28]These are the glossy versions, but most of these do have steering wheels. And we have actually seen, as we talked in the intro, some of these are being delivered around the region. So, uh, the question about whether or not they're going to keep using the wrap version. I think that is completed. Uh, they're going to be using the glossy and they'll keep putting in the steering wheel kits as needed for testing. Here's a great view of kind of the full line now with the Model Y's, the Cyber Truck, and the Cyber Cabs. I don't know why there is a older gray cy uh Model Y here. Uh but uh this view gives us a great sense of scale between these three different models. And uh uh just a great to see that production for all three of the models is starting to ramp up here at the factory. Now, one other thing I want to notice is there's an opportunity here to show you the older Cyber Cab on the right and the newer ones on the left.

[00:21:28]You can clearly see the difference in color, not just the gloss or the matte, but the color is significantly different. And uh you can get a really good idea of if you like one or the other. I personally like the newer version. It's a much deeper and richer color, at least to me. Here is the semitruck that was used in the photos I talked about in the intro where they pulled a trailer with eight of the cyber cabs and they did a photo op in front of the flag poles at Giga Texas. As we fly over this field, look at some of the steel items and racking systems for the castings. And that continues to grow here as they continue to look for space and relocate items from around the uh the factory. As we cross over the highway, we'll fly along the northwest corner of uh the building. I'm going to reposition further to the north. We're going to take a look at what is going on with the Optimus factory. And uh along the way, we'll stop up at the uh concrete batch plant and landscape section and we'll take a look at that.

[00:22:35]But uh the other thing I want to point out before we uh continue with the music is that you can see all three installations here of the mega packs.

[00:22:44]The one on the right with Cortex 2, the one at the bottom center which is Cortex one, and the one on the bottom left which is to provide backup power for the main factory.

[00:23:20]As we fly past the concrete batch plant, you see a lot of the materials are bent.

[00:23:25]Uh, also this is where the landscape materials and some of the rental equipment lot items and trailers. Also, the containers were moved. There is some work here on the north. It looks like it's mostly for staging of equipment.

[00:23:41]And as I zoom back out across this treeline field, we can see the Optimus factory under construction. And a couple things I want to show as I bring the drone up is one, not only the active construction site. And on the top left, you can see the diamond edges of the building, but as I pan to the south, it really does look to me like the building is going to be phased in part one and two. The part two will continue into this field and uh make it significantly longer than it is right now. And part of that is because the south end here is squared off. it doesn't have those diamond edges and also just the way that this is laid out, it really seems to be conducive for that to continue. But of course, we'll have to watch that and see if that in fact does develop. It makes sense because this part of the field was much more flat and a lot uh easier to deal with as far as building a foundation, whereas the other part is going to require a lot of fill dirt and reclamation work because of the hills and valleys in that location. But we can see a cybert truck uh supervising from the top of the hill here today. And also on the south end, the excavation is at a much larger little area. And we can see some gravel and the concrete mix being brought in. But also, if you pay attention to here, there's actually uh several different levels of the grade.

[00:25:10]And you see the top on the right you can see the large excavation on the left where you see some of the the center dump trucks bringing in the gravel and then the center plus is actually at a deeper uh grade as well. So why all this is happening that is a very good question and uh it's going to be interesting to see when they start putting in footings and the structure of the building what exactly is going in here. Now, you can also tell that many of the footings have had the concrete poured. All the rebar cages are in, plus the mounts for the columns and also a great view of the step change in the grade here. With this excavation, there are some uh rebar cages at the bottom and the center left of the screen. We'll see more of those. I wanted to zoom in to give you a sense of scale with the workers and the footings. Also, the excavation for the footings. These are enormous. And you can also get an idea of the spacing between the columns. And it's somewhere around uh maybe 40 feet or so. So maybe slightly less than the main factory. We see a rebar cage being maneuvered towards these uh excavations.

[00:26:24]It's kind of strange because that rebar cage almost looks triangular. Uh but uh that is how they move them around. Of course, they're fashioned on the ground as you can see some more at the bottom of the screen. And of course, more of the footings with concrete are starting to proceed towards the north. And as I pull away to the north, this will give you a great view of all that foundation work that is underway with the geop, the foundations, and the rebar cages. Plus, here on the north, the diamond edges, and more of the dirt being spread on this north side by the silk plant fence.

[00:27:02]And I think that's going to be for staging and also just for access like you see the bus driving by. As we get over to the northeast corner, just looking across to Lone Tree Field, that's also where that test track was going to be built that we discussed earlier and before it was moved to that far southwest side. As I come back to the main foundation, I'll bring the drone down a little bit lower. And I wanted to show you more of the geoper work on this east side. You can tell that uh some of the geop are stop parked on the left hand side of the screen. We see the taller one for compacting and we'll also see some in operation here in a moment. But in this large kind of plus uh uh shaped excavation, we can see that more of the geop have happened along the BMS and more of it is happening now on the infield or the center part of that.

[00:27:55]And as I pull away, you can see some more of the geop being done at the bottom of the screen. This bird's eye view gives you a great uh look at the work on this north part of the uh foundation. And as I pan to the left again, just makes me think it may continue into that field closer towards the battery cathode plant and cortex 2.

[00:28:17]As I bring the drone back down, I wanted to show you that there is some activity here in the old uh location where the rental equipment lot used to be. We see the fueling station and that red tank on the left. Some more equipment on the uh left as well. And here we see crews setting up a uh basically a uh mobile um uh lift. And this is called a combi lift SC. The SC is called a straddle carrier.

[00:28:48]You can see the wheels and the bases on the bottom right and with the inset what this would look like when it is installed. You can also see some other cradles nearby. So, what this is going to be used for, that's a great question.

[00:29:00]I'll keep watching and monitoring that.

[00:29:02]Um, but uh it's certainly uh something that is going to be carrying some heavy items, I would imagine. This is the current look at the recycling operations for all of the concrete debris and other materials. And while I'm at this higher altitude, I thought I would fly back over the trees and show you where River Road Extension is uh still working its way through the trees. We have some more of the dirt being brought in by the dump trucks. We're going to see one coming into view here momentarily. I'll follow that uh down to where we see them putting it onto the graded location and then it's being spread around. Uh so this is basically the surface where river road will come through where the pond used to be. They're continuing to fill in this location. We've seen geoexile membranes and the darkness of the dirt makes me think that maybe there's a lot of moisture in there. So they're letting it dry out before they continue to add more dirt. Here is some additional earth work being done on the right hand side of the screen next to the green transformers. And of course, all of this section here has been filled in and it's being compacted. Water truck there to help with that compaction. And we see some other vehicles working on uh this location. Now, if you look to the north or the south on the left hand side, you can kind of get an idea where River Road is going to snake through.

[00:30:27]And of course, this is the site that's being prepared for the advanced technology fab. Uh because of the extreme work here on the ground and also the soil sampling that we've seen here on the north part, makes me think that the building may have been offset further to the north. This is the old concrete truck uh maintenance facility.

[00:30:46]They've been doing a lot of remediation with the dirt and uh getting all of the contaminated soil. Also see this structure. Uh some of it is already in the process of being removed and I expect to see that being removed shortly. Now looking across the Colorado River, I saw this uh site being constructed. I'm not exactly sure what it is. Um but I thought I would just do a real quick flight around. If you happen to know what this is, uh let me know. Uh it may not be related to Giga Texas. Um not really sure. Uh originally we saw a boring tunnel uh permit uh that was filed several years ago, but then that was uh uh expired and we haven't really seen much more since then. But uh anyway, this is what is going on on the sort of the far east uh across the Colorado River. And as we look back across the trees and the river itself, you can see where that river road extension is continuing and this entire field where they're going to be building that advanced technology chip fab and also just uh kind of get an idea of why I think that maybe it has been offset further to the right of the screen rather than to the left closer to that large pond. Uh but we'll see as they continue to uh build out this uh site.

[00:32:09]So I'm going to do kind of a long pullaway to the north. You can start seeing some of the darker clouds at the top of the screen coming in. And I think it was probably a good idea for me to wrap up the flight for today. But as I do fly away to the north, uh we'll bring into view quite a bit of the areas that we visited and uh what this entire section of the site is looking like as it is being completely transformed into another manufacturing uh site. And uh a great view between the foundation at the bottom for the Optimus robot factory and the central campus with the battery cathode and the Cortex 2. So that will bring us to an end for today. As always, thank you very much for your support. I hope you enjoyed what we were able to see and talk about and I hope you have a great week. Take care.

[00:33:22]Kitty.

[00:33:36]Hey.