SolarCity becomes a cash burn for Tesla after Model 3 bottlenecks

CEO Musk kicked recently kicked up controversy by acquiring the SolarCity, a solar-panel installer founded by two of his cousins

With all the car-making troubles that are hounding Tesla  these days — from the Model 3 bottlenecks to the furious cash burn — it’s easy to overlook the company’s SolarCity headache.

But 16 months after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk kicked up controversy by acquiring the solar-panel installer founded by two of his cousins, its obligations are a strain on Tesla’s finances. The $2 billion purchase came with a $2.9 billion debt load, and a chunk of that is soon coming due. That’s bad timing for a company churning through about $6,500 a minute and trying to stave off the need