The skeptics who thought the Tesla Model Y reveal timing was “curious” – taking place at a time when the company is under regulatory scrutiny from the SEC and its cash balances are constantly being called into question – likely had a point. But now, they are likely going to have a bigger one: Tesla is now accepting $20,000 deposits on its new Semi, per its website, and also taking $200,000 deposits for its “Founders Series” Semi.
The semi has been in testing since 2017 and has been occasionally spotted on the West Coast. This past Sunday, a new reservation page at Tesla.com went live allowing truckers to put down a deposit for the semi.
And what would a reservation page for a Semi be without a “Founders Series” option that will cost significantly more? Those that absolutely must do their coast-to-coast trucking in a “Founders Series” edition of the semi (why wound anyone?) would be forced to plunk down a $200,000 deposit.
The Semi is said to “start” at $150,000 for 300 miles of range and $180,000 miles for an extended range model with 500 miles of range. We’ll believe that when we see them. As a report notes:
Tesla did not give any estimated delivery date for customers who order a Semi, and the company faces competition from startup Nikola, which is developing electric and fuel-cell powered semis, as well as from established truckmakers such as Daimler, Volvo, truckmakers and PACCAR, which builds Peterbilts and Kenworths.
The team over at Perseid Capital recently did a cashflow analysis of Tesla to try and figure out how dire the cash situation could be. They put together a schedule of “opportunities to fail” between now and the end of May:
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3/14 – Payroll
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Payroll is due Friday, but usually hits accounts Thursday
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@Ex_Tesla reports that payroll is due every two weeks, on Friday
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3/14 – Model Y reveal
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3/15 – $11.6M coupon payment on 2022 CV
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4/1 – April lease payments
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4/1? – $182M Solar City debt repayable
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I haven’t been able to find an exact date, but most bonds seem due on the 1st
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4/2 – Inside EV’s March sales score card
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4/11 – Payroll
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4/25 – Payroll
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5/1 – May lease payments
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5/1 – Q1 earnings announcement
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5/9 – Payroll
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5/23 – Payroll
The Perseid analysis disclaims:
“Of course, these are just dates that could catalyze a crisis. Tesla could run out of cash at any time or not at all. A powder keg could blow without warning. Creditors and/or the executives could force a bankruptcy tomorrow. Or Elon could really be a genius leading Tesla into the future via a paradigm of ‘creative chaos’. No promises.”
Here are 5 scenarios they modeled for Tesla’s cash balance going forward:
As for us, we’re sure that the timing of opening these reservations, coming at a point where the company is arguably in the midst of chaos, is just coincidental and has nothing to do with the company’s balance sheet.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2Y2KB5l Tyler Durden