Tesla Just Paid Back $614 Million In Loans It Received For Its Shanghai Gigafactory

As the ongoing soap opera between China and Tesla continues – with the Chinese government looking as though it may be less-than-amused with boy wonder “visionary in chief” Elon Musk of late – it appears that Tesla may also be working to separate its ties from the Chinese government.

The company has paid back $614 million in loans that it took out for the Shanghai Gigafactory, according to Tesmanian, citing the company’s recently filed 10-Q.

Tesla’s 10-Q stated:

“In April 2021, we fully repaid the $614 million in aggregate principal of our secured term loan facility in connection with the construction of Gigafactory Shanghai (the“ Fixed Asset Facility ”) and the facility was terminated.”

The company also noted that it no longer had access to $758 from a fixed asset facility as a result:

“After the termination, the $758 million of unused commitment under the Fixed Asset Facility included in the debt and finance lease table as of March 31, 2021 above was no longer available.”

Recall, the loans was part of a whirlwind of variables that all mysteriously went Tesla’s way when the automaker sought to get up and running, extremely quickly, in the world’s largest auto market. Tesla was able to ascertain financing, land and staff to build the Gigafactory with blistering turnaround time when the company made the decision to build in China.

The quick turnarounds and China’s willingness to help finance the project raised numerous eyebrows at the time, including ours.

Recall, back in April 2020, we were one of the first to ask if Musk risked becoming a Chinese asset. We raised pointed questions about Musk’s cozy relationship with the Chinese government – before their relationship started to fall apart – more than a year ago. 

Recently we’ve covered the China risk to Tesla’s business in our piece suggesting that Elon Musk’s Chinese fairy tale could eventually come to an end. We noted how in late April 2021, Chinese state media is now suggesting that the automaker’s sales could be “doomed” in the country.

Funny how that works, isn’t it?