Tesla boss Elon Musk says that ongoing supply chain issues have turned the firm’s new factories into ‘gigantic money furnaces’.
The world’s richest man said that new plants in Germany and Texas are losing billions of dollars while building a ‘puny’ amount of cars.
He says that Tesla has found it difficult to boost production of its new ‘4680’ batteries due to major problems getting parts from China.
To make matters worse, the firm is also struggling to meet demand for its conventional ‘2170’ batteries as the tools needed are ‘stuck at a port in China’.
Production has also been affected at the firm’s plant in California, Musk told Tesla owners in Austin.
He said: ‘This factory is losing insane money right now.
‘We should be operating a lot more cars from this factory versus a very puny amount of cars.
‘Both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. Okay? It’s really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire.’
In recent times, Tesla has been forced to push back production of its much anticipated Cybertruck and Roadster models until 2023.
Despite that, Musk insists that the company will soon see a rapid recovery.
He said: ‘This is all going to get fixed real fast, but it requires a lot of attention.
‘It will take more effort to get this factory into high line production than it took to build it in the first place.
‘The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and we’re not out of it yet.’