ELEY

Overview

Toyota unveiled the ELEY humanoid robot at the 2026 Japan Mobility Show, positioning it as a factory co-worker designed to operate on existing Toyota production lines alongside human workers. With a stated target of up to 400,000 units deployed across Toyota Group by 2028, ELEY represents one of the largest single-organisation commitments to humanoid robotics in history.

ELEY is designed for repetitive factory tasks including assembly, inspection, and material handling. Toyota's engineering heritage in manufacturing automation (the Toyota Production System) informs the robot's design philosophy: reliability, standardisation, and incremental improvement over novelty.

Key Specifications

• Degrees of Freedom: approximately 36
• Maximum Speed: approximately 1.5 m/s
• Runtime: approximately 4 hours
• Target payload: 5 kg (estimated)
• Status: Piloting within Toyota Group facilities

Commercial Availability

As of October 2026, ELEY is not commercially available. Toyota has not announced external sales or licensing. The 400,000-unit target refers to internal Toyota Group deployment. Third-party access is not confirmed. Watch Toyota's official robotics communications for updates.

Implications for the Used Robot Market

Toyota's commitment at this scale signals that the cost of humanoid manufacturing will fall substantially through the late 2020s. For UK buyers, this is relevant context when evaluating current-generation cobots: if humanoids become cost-competitive with industrial cobots by 2029-2030, used cobots purchased today will still deliver ROI within a 3-5 year window before any transition occurs.

Alternatives to Consider

• Agility Digit 5 ($200,000+): commercially available factory humanoid with $300M+ order book
• Figure 02/03 (~$250,000): US-based factory humanoid with BMW pilot
• Used UR10e (~£18,000-£28,000 used): proven cobot for factory tasks, available now