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Tesla still burning cash: each car loses $4,000

Bread-heads scratch heads over 'leccy car maker's future

Whatever its utility, Tesla's robo-charger video did one thing for the company: it distracted attention from the company's latest financial reports.

Outlets like Reuters aren't impressed, with this report noting that Elon Musk's baby “burned US$359 million in cash last quarter in a bull market for luxury vehicles”.

Tesla's letter to shareholders (PDF) attributes the cash burn to capex of $405 million in the quarter, leaving $1.15 billion in the kitty (down from $2.67 billion at the same time last year).

Reuters notes that Tesla's operating loss of $47 million for the quarter on sales of 11,532 vehicles means it's losing around $4,000 for each car sold.

The company hopes to deliver between 50,000 and 55,000 cars for the current full year, with Musk saying that by 2016 he expects to be building multiple models in quantity. The letter says the company is “confident of a steady state production and demand of 1,600 to 1,800 vehicles per week combined for Model S and Model X”.

The results also note sales of Tesla powertrains to Daimler, worth $32 million in the quarter.

Tesla's entry into large-scale battery storage is set to ramp up in Q4, the company says, and the Gigafactory construction is on track.

The company says its capex will decline next year, with no new models to launch until 2017.

The Reuters report also notes that the company is considering whether it needs to raise more capital to realise Elon's ambitious dreams. ®

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