Tesla’s usage is increasing as Cybercab, Semi, Megapack production timeline

Tesla no longer plans to reach “volume production” of its three new products – Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and its Megapack 3 commercial energy storage solution – in 2026, according to a second quarter shareholder letter published on Wednesday. The company also removed language from its first-quarter report about its Optimus robot reaching “volume production.”

The company said Wednesday it is trying to ramp up battery production, particularly around the company’s 4680 cell, to begin building the Cybercab and Tesla Semi at scale. It didn’t give a reason to postpone volume production of the new Megapack, or say if there’s a catch around Optimus.

Tesla began production of the first Cybercabs at its factory in Austin, Texas earlier this year, but said in a letter that it is still building production lines for the Semi and Optimus. The company recently said in January that the Cybercab, Semi, and Megapack 3 will reach “volume production” this year.

The pullback comes as the company plows money into its next generation of products while trying to transition from an EV maker to an AI and robotics company. Tesla’s results, which showed net income fell 5% year over year to $1.1 billion, capital spending more than doubled, and negative free cash flow, boosted by rising revenue.

Still, that revenue boost wasn’t enough to cover operating costs and Tesla’s push to develop and launch new products, which Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja previously said would lead to negative earnings for the rest of the year.

The company reported revenue of $28.2 billion, a 26% increase from the $22.5 billion it generated in the second quarter of 2025. Tesla’s second quarter revenue also grew from the previous quarter’s draw of $22.38 billion.

The bulk of its revenue came from selling and leasing its EVs — and those results improved significantly this quarter.

The company reported auto revenue of $20.5 billion in the second quarter, compared to $16.6 billion in the same period last year. Tesla delivered more than 480,000 vehicles in the second quarter, an increase of more than 120,000 from the first quarter.

It was Tesla’s best result in overall sales since the third quarter of last year, when it delivered nearly 500,000 vehicles. The increase was driven by record sales in several markets outside the US, including South Korea, Australia, Colombia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Portugal, the Philippines, Chile, Slovenia and Lithuania, the company said in its shareholder letter.

Tesla’s second-quarter profit results improved from a year ago when the company suffered from a combination of falling EV sales, lower average selling prices, less revenue from regulatory credits, and lower solar and power revenues.

Sales of energy storage and solar were also seen as a highlight, improving 13% to $3.1 billion. And subscriptions to Tesla’s advanced driver assistance program, known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised) continue to rise. The company reported 1.48 million subscriptions, a 56% increase from the same period last year.

Tesla’s bottom line, however, slipped as it poured money into new products and saw its gross margins shrink.

Tesla reported revenue of $1.1 billion, a 5% decrease from the same period last year. During the same period, its operating expenses increased 47% to $4.3 billion. Meanwhile, Tesla had $1 billion in free cash flow in the second quarter, a big change from the $1.44 billion in free cash flow it reported in the previous quarter and the $146 million it had in the same period a year ago.

The company’s operating income was $398 million, down 57% from the $932 million it reported for the same period last year.

Last year, Tesla called the second quarter of 2025 the “second point” in the company’s history and the beginning of the transition from a company that sells electric cars, solar, and energy storage to one that leads in “AI, robotics and related services.”

That transition is still underway and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company will improve spending to achieve its goal. Tesla said its capital spending will be $25 billion by 2026, nearly three times what it has spent historically.

This spring, the company ended production of its flagship Model S sedan and Model X SUV at its Fremont, California factory to make way for its Optimus humanoid robot. It is also bringing its Tesla Robotaxi service to new cities, albeit with a limited number of vehicles. And it’s still pushing to sell owners on Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and eventually make that product capable of handling all the driving without the need for a human.