Tesla has been burning through cash at a rate of about $480,000 per hour, or approximately $8,000 per minute—a rate that would deplete the company's cash reserves by Monday, Aug. 6, 2018, according to Bloomberg.
Tesla continues to recover from the massive costs incurred during the development of its lower-priced, mass-market electric car. Additionally, Tesla has sunk billions into building out its Nevada Gigafactory, and will likely spend billions more to get the Semi and Roadster off the ground.
The company itself says it's ramping up the output of its all-important Model 3, which will bring money in the door.
Despite several missed deadlines this year, CEO Elon Musk is still adamant that the production of the Tesla Model 3 will be ramping up its profits the first quarter of 2018, and new agreements with suppliers will cut costs even further.
The Founders Series Roadster will cost buyers a $250,000 down payment even though it's not coming for more than two years. Orders of those cars are capped at 1,000, meaning they alone could generate $250 million. Tesla is charging a total of $50,000 for reservations of the regular Roadster. Companies can also pre-order electric Semi trucks for $5,000, though they don't go into production until 2019, Bloomberg says.
But all this is a pittance compared with Tesla's financial needs. It's blowing through more than $1 billion a quarter thanks to massive investment in making the Model 3, a $35,000 car that's looking less likely to generate a return anytime soon.
Bloomberg senior analyst Kevin Tynan warns that this extreme cash drain could pose real problems for the California automaker, saying Tesla will have to raise at least $2 billion by the middle of 2018, declaring: "Whether they can last another 10 months or a year, he needs money, and quickly."
