Skip to Content
Silicon Valley

Tesla’s solar business is adding extra financial worries to its long list of headaches

Elon Musk’s automaker has even more to think about than Autopilot accidents and building its cars faster.

Backstory: Two years ago, Elon Musk decided to acquire the solar firm Solar City, in a bid to create a seamlessly integrated clean energy company—solar panels, energy storage, and the car, too. The move was broadly criticised, not least because the $2 billion acquisition brought with it $2.9 billion debt.

The news:  Bloomberg reports that $390 million of that debt is due this year. That may not sound too bad, but Tesla is burning through cash—$6,500 a minute, according to another Bloomberg report. And meanwhile its credit rating, already hurt by SolarCity’s debt, was recently downgraded by Moody’s.

Why it matters: Tesla is having a tough time right now, coming under investigation for a driver fatality involving its Autopilot self-driving technology and struggling with continued investor concerns about the rate at which it’s building its Model 3 vehicles. Add to that list the looming financial worries of its solar division.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.

Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch

Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.

How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets

When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.