NEWS

Car Awards Should Help Tesla's Cash Flow

Tesla’s been the king of electric vehicles in style, hefty price tag and buzz since its inception, with celebs like Leonardo DeCaprio and Brad Pitt among its customers. But the company’s been getting hammered with financial losses of late. Their third-quarter net loss grew to almost 70 percent, to $110.8 million - $1.05 per share - compared with a loss of $65.1 million, or 63 cents per share a year earlier, according to sources.

Those are terrible numbers, and it’s not even all their money. The company recently finished the last of a $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy during the last quarter, and they also count Daimler AG and Toyota as both customers and investors. (Paypal and SpaceX founder Elon Musk started the company.) To their credit, Tesla made two $15 million loan payments before their due date this year, spokeswoman Christina Ra said.

But a company needs to make a profit, and Tesla is now aiming at electric car nuts who might otherwise set their sights on a Leaf or Volt. Tesla currently offers two all-electric models, the $109,000 Roadster and the new Model S, starting at $49,900 after a federal tax credit. As the Model S goes to market, the Roadster is being phased out. Tesla also said it’s transitioning to a mass-production company, making 100 cars per week instead of its current 5. It expects to double production again in one month to 400 cars per week. It also increased sales of powertrains to Toyota in order to power the upcoming electric RAV4.

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