Elon Musk’s Tesla says Q1 revenue doubled and its Model 3 car is on track for July release

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A Tesla Model S on display in downtown Los Angeles. Tesla said quarterly revenue more than doubled and its Model 3 is on track for a July release. Photo: AP

Published: 6:30am, 4 May 2017Updated: 8:01am, 4 May 2017

Electric-car maker Tesla on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue that more than doubled and said its upcoming Model 3 was on schedule for July, but it downplayed the mass-market vehicle and gave a sales pitch for its more expensive Model S.

Chief Executive Elon Musk’s bold approach to cars, space exploration and clean energy has fueled investor enthusiasm for Tesla. Sceptics are waiting to see if Musk can fulfil his promise of producing 500,000 cars per year in 2018, six times Tesla’s 2016 production.

Tesla’s comments underscored the additional challenge of keeping up demand for its older models. Shares were down about 1 per cent in after-hours trade following the results.

Tesla said it had US$4 billion of cash on hand as it headed into the second quarter and expects year-to-date capital expenditures to be slightly over US$2 billion by the time it starts Model 3 production - within its previous targeted range of US$2 billion to U$2.5 billion.

A visitor holds an umbrella as she looks at a Tesla Model X car on display at the G Festival, part of the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Beijing, late last month. Photo: AP

That cushion should give it breathing room in the near term from needing to tap Wall Street for cash, said CFRA Research analyst Efraim Levy. Tesla in March raised US$1.2 billion from the markets.

Record deliveries helped Tesla increase its revenue to US$2.70 billion in the quarter, but a net loss widened to US$330.3 million from US$282.3 million a year earlier, largely driven by its SolarCity acquisition.