Tesla said Monday it was increasing spending by about $1 billion to ramp up its factories, develop new batteries and fund other projects.
In a securities filing, Tesla said it expected capital spending to reach $6 billion to $8 billion by 2022, up from an April forecast of $5 billion to $7 billion.
The increase in spending was one of the new revelations in Tesla’s quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The automaker also said it was under more scrutiny from the commission and that it had lost $170 million on its investment in Bitcoin.
Mr. Musk recently complained of startup problems at new plants near Berlin and Austin, Texas, describing them as “cash kilns” that guzzle resources without producing enough cars.
Amid what Mr. Musk described as “supply chain hell,” Tesla’s profits and deliveries fell in the second quarter of the first three months of the year, an unusual setback for a company that dominates the burgeoning electric car market. The increase in capital expenditure suggests that starting up the new factories in Germany and Texas has proved more expensive than expected.
In the quarterly report, Tesla also disclosed that it had received a subpoena from the SEC to request information about the company’s compliance with a 2018 agreement to settle allegations of securities fraud.
The subpoena is a twist in a long-running dispute between Mr. Musk and the SEC. In 2018, he was accused of misleading investors by saying on Twitter that he had funding to buy back the company from shareholders. The transaction never took place.
To settle the securities fraud allegations, Mr. Musk agreed to have certain social media posts run by a corporate lawyer. In April, a federal judge in New York rejected an attempt by Mr. Musk to get out of the deal.
The filing also revealed that Mr. Musk’s fascination with cryptocurrencies had cost Tesla money. In addition to losing $170 million, the automaker said it made $64 million by selling some Bitcoin, the value of which has fluctuated wildly. Tesla said last week that it had lost money after selling most of its holdings to Bitcoin.
Mr. Musk said last week that he still believes in cryptocurrencies and that the decision to sell some “should not be taken as a judgment on Bitcoin”. Tesla wanted the money, he said.
The application was made public around the same time that Mr. Musk defended his personal conduct on Twitter. The Wall Street Journal reported that the director had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, which ruined the two men’s friendship. Mr Musk said the article was inaccurate, adding that he works so much that “there just isn’t much time for shenanigans.”
