Watch Tesla's Wild 'Unboxed' Manufacturing For The Cybercab In Action

By building the two-door EV in modules on parallel lines, Tesla says it can cut the overall line size in half.

Tesla Cybercab Unboxed Production Line

Photo by: Tesla

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Sep 9, at 1:58am ET

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Tesla’s smallest new EV is being assembled using a new technique.
The company released a video showcasing its “Unboxed” assembly process.
Similar to Ford’s Universal EV Production System, Tesla’s approach assembles the car in individual modules, which are put together at the end.

For over a century, cars have been built roughly the same way. Thousands of individual parts are put together on a conveyor belt that slowly runs through the factory, and as it moves along, the car takes shape on it.

It’s how the Ford Model T was built over a century ago, but things are starting to change. Now, car companies are trying to streamline the assembly process to cut costs and boost output while also slimming down the size of their factories.

Tesla is one of those companies, and its so-called "Unboxed" technique is now being used to build the new two-door Cybercab. The American technology giant published a video on the official Robotaxi account on X yesterday, offering a first glimpse into how it makes the steering-wheel-less EV.

Instead of bolting separate pieces onto the main chassis, the Cybercab is made from individual modules that are assembled on parallel lines. The video shows the battery box, front section, and rear section being built at the same time. Then, they’re framed together at the end of the line, where the side sections, roof, and doors are added.

Tesla says this technique reduces the assembly line by half, presumably compared to a traditional car factory, which unlocks a higher production capacity in the same footprint. The company bills its new building strategy as “the first real revolution in automotive manufacturing in over a century,” but it’s worth noting that Ford, which invented the modern car production line back in the 1900s, is also gearing up to disrupt the assembly game.

Its Universal EV Production System, which will be used to make the upcoming Fathom electric pickup truck, divides the assembly process into three individual lines. The front, middle, and rear of the vehicle are built on parallel lines, and they’re joined together at the end.

Tesla Cybercab Unboxed Production Line

Photo by: Tesla

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Mind you, Tesla claims to be mass-producing the Cybercab right now, whereas the first customer Ford Fathom pickups will start rolling off the line next year.

A key part of making this type of production viable is the extensive use of large metal parts that are cast by huge presses. It eliminates the need for hundreds of individual parts that need to be formed and joined together, which makes the whole process faster and cheaper.