Even if you include R&D into the COGS they make a profit on each car sold. Here is Q4 2014 - http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp

Even if you include R&D into the COGS they make a profit on each car sold. Here is Q4 2014 - http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=TSLA http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/financials/financia... $3.2B total revenue $2.3B COGS $0.4B R&D $0.5B gross profit including R&D Their net income for Q4 2014 was -$0.3B, so they're not nearly as far off from profitability as you make it sound.