Tesla Is Hemorrhaging Cash And Could Run Dry Before The End Of 2018

A new report from Bloomberg highlights the precarious position Tesla is in right now, and it doesn't look pretty

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

Tesla is continuing to burn through cash at an astonishing rate. About $6500 a minute, according to an alarming new report from Bloomberg. So, go away and make a cup of tea right now, and - so long as you’ve left the teabag in for a decent brewing duration - Tesla will have lost at least $30,000 in that time.

Don’t just take our word for it - there’s a handy counter on the Bloomberg piece, complete with a brilliant Elon Musk flamethrower Gif, that shows roughly how much money Tesla has lost since you opened the page.

$6500 a minute figure is actually a little less than the publication previously reported - Tesla apparently got through cash at a rate of $8000 a minute in the 12 months prior to November 2017 - but the main takeaway here is that it’s now looking like the Californian firm could be out of cash before the year is out.

There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*, including Chapter 14 and a half (the worst one).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018

A big factor is Tesla’s employee count. Since 2010, Tesla’s workforce has surged from 899 to 40,000 people, but the company still isn’t bringing in much money. General Motors and Ford rake in about two and a half times the revenue of Tesla per employee. Model 3 production delays have proven particularly costly, at a time when Tesla is also investing heavily in its incoming Semi truck.

The company currently holds $854 million in customer deposits, which - Bloomberg notes - are effectively “interest-free loans.” It’s not enough though, and without raising additional external funding, Tesla is at a real risk of going bankrupt.

It’s looking like 2018 is going to be a make or break year for Musk and Tesla.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

A shame because as much as we don’t like Tesla, it was going somewhere and could be a whole future but we will have to wait and see.

Ambitious but rubbish basically

I like Tesla because they were the only company to make electric cars that people wanted. They also didn’t make them tiny and hideously overstyled.

So, Elon Musk’s April Fool’s tweet is probably real? What a prediction!

Watch this Tesla Roadster go from concept to vaporware in 1.9 seconds!

Laughs in 840hp 6.1L supercharged pushrod V8

Laughs in V8

Laughs in V10

Brap brap brap brap!!!

Laughs in 1.5 4 cylinder

I’am wishing than we could spam that damn upvote button..

Laughs in flat four

Dang. Well, hopefully they get some good cash. Teslas are really great cars and, atleast to me, it’d be a shame to see them go

Yeah. They should have taken their time and gradually put the 3, semi, and Roadster into production rather than rush it

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Part of the problem is that they’re not actually great cars. Quite the opposite, in fact. I wouldn’t touch one with a ten meter pole after doing more research.

They received a “not recommended” in the 2015 consumer report.
In 2016 the Model X was released with reliability concerns right out of the gate.
In 2017 the Model 3 was called “a Kia in the 90s” and the Model X was the single most unreliable car in the USA.

The Model S has had consistent reliability issues throughout its lifespan, too.

Their cars are a mess, and word is spreading. The only people that seem to buy them now are either ignorant of the troubles or die hard fanboys.

The model 3 was a mistake

The model 3 was a great idea, they just launched it about 5 years too late

What a shame. I kinda wanted Tesla to succeed.

Tnankfully the company that want to make cars discardable like cell phones is hoing down . Nothi g againist musk but teslas are useless after 100k kms whic is nothing