Liam Denning, Columnist

Tesla Put a Car in Space But How About in Showrooms?

If it can't ramp up Model 3 production soon, it's going to need to raise more cash.

February 7, 2018 at 11:45 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

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Let's be clear about one thing: That SpaceX rocket launch on Tuesday was incredible. Putting a Tesla Roadster into orbit atop it was a stroke of marketing genius; imagine the slogan "A bazillion miles without a charge!"

Let's also be clear about another thing: This has nothing to do with Tesla's performance as a company (even if the stock market sometimes implies otherwise.) On that front, 100,000 Model 3s idling on lots near Fremont, California, would be worth far more than one electric sportscar headed for the asteroid belt.