TESLA POSTS RECORD 1Q LOSS AS CASH BURN ACCELERATES

» Tesla’s record net loss in DETROIT the first quarter and fast-burn through cash is raising questions about the company’s future and whether it will be able to pay all of its bills.

Wednesday’s results showed Tesla tearing through $745.3 million in cash in the first quarter, which may put pressure on it to borrow more money or sell additional shares to raise additional cash.

Tesla said it began the quarter with $3.96 billion in cash and equivalents, but that fell to $3.22 billion at the quarter’s end.

Tesla struggled to produce the mass-market Model 3 electric car during the quarter, falling short of production estimates. Problems have been so bad that CEO Elon Musk has tweeted he’s sleeping at the plant and that automation is overrated and more humans are needed to build the cars.

In April, Tesla said it wouldn’t need to return to markets for more capital because it expected to generate cash from sales of the Model 3. But it has had trouble getting them out the door to several hundred thousand people who put down $1,000 deposits to order one.

The company said in a note to investors Wednesday that Model 3 production is on the rise and that it expects to post at least positive net income excluding stock-based compensation, and positive cash flow in the third and fourth quarters.