Tesla shelved research and development projects worth a total US$62 million during the second quarter, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"During the second quarter of 2019, we recognized $47.0 million in impairment related to IPR&D intangible asset as we abandoned further development efforts, and $15.0 million for the related equipment within the energy generation and storage segment," Tesla said in the filing, adding "We also incurred a loss of $48.8 million for closing operations in certain facilities."
The company did not disclose the specific R&D projects it decided to abandon during the second quarter but, as Electrek's Fred Lambert noted in his report on the news, they had to be substantial if they involved equipment costing US$15 million.
Tesla released its second-quarter financial results last week, booking a loss of US$408 million, of which US$117 million was the cost of restructuring efforts as the company sought to streamline its operations as much as possible and to stop losing money
While it reported a record quarter in car production and deliveries, Tesla's solar business continued to sink, with installations slumping to a record low of 29 MW. This compared with more than 200 MW in its heyday, prompting analysts to suggest it might be better if the carmaker dropped its solar energy business and focus on cars.
Unlike its solar business, however, energy storage performance has been strong: the company said installations had increased by 81 percent on the quarter in Q2 and as much as 104 percent on the year to a record-high 415 MWh. Its revenues from energy generation and storage jumped 13 percent on a quarterly basis, although it inched down on an annual basis, by 2 percent, to US$368 million.
A few days after the second-quarter report, Tesla also announced the launch of a new, utility-scale battery pack, the Megapack, which, Tesla said, had up to 3 MWh of storage capacity and 1.5 MW of inverter capacity.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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