Tesla planning upgrade to semi-autonomous Autopilot system

Musk is chief executive of both companies.

Perhaps more alarming is the fact that Tesla also said the regulatory filing that 15 separate institutional investors passed on the opportunity of either acquiring SolarCity or injecting equity into the company.

After publishing its second quarter 2016 financial results last month, Tesla said that it plans to deliver about 50,000 vehicles during the second half the year to bring the total to 80,000 vehicles.

According to the tweet, improvements in the autopilot system, which includes advanced processing of radar signals, will be comprehend in a blog post on the company’s website later.

The upgraded system “will have to be smarter and more capable of recognizing its surroundings”, said Karl Brauer, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Tesla’s version 8.0 software is now under final review, according to Elon Musk, so there still might be changes before it starts being deployed to cars. On Thursday, he postponed the announcement until the “end of weekend”.

Adding to the money going tout the door, the company also noted in the filing that it “received notices of conversion from holders of approximately $422 million in aggregate principal amount of Tesla’s convertible senior notes due 2018”.

Despite the aura surrounding Musk, who has a 26 per cent stake in Tesla and a 22.5 per cent interest in SolarCity, investors have been skeptical about the deal from the outset.

Earlier this month, Tesla said it closed the second quarter with almost $3.25 billion in cash, but in July it repaid $678 million on a revolving credit line and planned to redeem $422 million in convertible notes.

The additional funds would be plowed into capital projects to build out the Model 3 production line and the Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada. Many analysts are wondering whether it can maintain enough cash flow to see those projects to completion.

The electric auto company is also planning to reduce its outstanding debt balance, and for that, it will require more cash.

Tesla has yet to achieve profitability (although, that’s not what Tesla stock trades on), relying on the sale of cars to finance itself. It had earlier valued SolarCity shares at $14.75-$34.00 but after the correction valued the company’s stock in the range of $18.75-$37.75.