Tesla to add about $1B in spending in ’22
Tesla said Monday that it was increasing spending by about $1 billion to ramp up its factories, develop new batteries and finance other projects.
In a securities filing, Tesla said it expected capital expenditures to be from $6 billion to $8 billion this year, up from an April forecast of $5 billion to $7 billion.
The increase was one of several new disclosures in Tesla’s quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The automaker also said it was under increased scrutiny from the commission and that it lost $170 million on its investment in bitcoin.
CEO Elon Musk has complained recently of startup problems at new factories near Austin and Berlin, describing them as “money furnaces” that were draining resources without producing enough cars.
Amid what Musk described as “supply chain hell,” Tesla’s profit and deliveries declined in the second quarter, compared with the first three months of the year, an unusual setback for a company that dominates the fast-growing market for electric cars.
The increase in capital spending suggests that getting the new factories going in Austin and Germany has proved more expensive than expected.
Musk officially moved Tesla headquarters to its factory near Austin from Fremont, Calif., in December. The $1.1 billion plant sits on 2,200 acres off Texas 45 and Texas 130 near AustinBergstrom International Airport. Last month, it filed a permit application for a 500,000-square-foot addition at the site.
Musk said last week that Tesla is pushing to exceed a 1,000vehicle-per week milestone at Austin in the next few months. Its Berlin plant reached the mark in June.
“We have the potential for a record-breaking second half of the year,” he said.
In the quarterly report, Tesla also disclosed that it had received a subpoena from the SEC seeking information about the company’s compliance with a 2018 agreement to settle accusations of securities fraud.
The subpoena is a twist in a long-running dispute between Musk and the SEC. In 2018, he was accused of misleading investors by saying on Twitter that he had financing in place to buy the company back from shareholders. The transaction never took place.
To settle the accusations of securities fraud, Musk agreed to run certain social media posts by a company lawyer. In April, a federal judge in New York rejected an attempt by Musk to get out of the agreement.
The filing also revealed that Musk’s fascination with cryptocurrencies cost Tesla money. In addition to its $170 million loss, the automaker said it earned $64 million by selling some bitcoin, whose value has fluctuated wildly. Tesla said last week that it had lost money after selling most of its holdings of bitcoin.
Musk said last week that he still believed in cryptocurrencies and that the decision to sell some “should not be taken as some verdict on bitcoin.” Tesla wanted the cash, he said.
The filing was made public around the same time Musk was defending his personal conduct on Twitter. The Wall Street Journal reported that the CEO had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which had ruined the two men’s friendship. Musk said the story was wrong, adding that he works so much that “there just isn’t much time for shenanigans.”