Tesla blows through $8,000 a minute amid Model 3 woes
Over the past 12 months, the electric-car maker has been burning money at a clip of about $8,000 a minute (or $480,000 an hour), Bloomberg data show. At this pace, the company is on track to exhaust its current cash pile on Monday, Aug. 6. (At 2:17 a.m. New York time, if you really want to be precise.)
To be fair, few Tesla watchers expect the cash burn to continue at quite such a breakneck pace, and the company itself says it’s ramping up output of its all-important Model 3, which will bring money in the door. But still, its need for fresh cash came into high relief last week when Musk unveiled his latest plan to raise funds. He’s asking customers to pay him upfront to order vehicles that may not be delivered for years.
The souped-up Roadster will cost buyers a $250,000 down payment even though it’s not coming for more than two years.*That might generate $250 million; orders for the “founders” Roadster are capped at 1,000. And companies can pre-order electric Semi trucks for $5,000. They don’t go into production until 2019.