Tesla confirms it received government payroll assistance amid coronavirus pandemic
It's not clear what kind of aid Tesla specifically received, or from where.
Tesla received some governmental assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic, the automaker said in a regulatory filing this Tuesday.
Reuters first reported the information. The filing refers to "various governmental responses to the pandemic granted to companies globally" and says Tesla accepted "certain payroll-related benefits which helped to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial results."
Reuters said the company isn't listed with the US Small Business Administration, which oversaw Paycheck Protection Program loans beginning this past March and that Reuters hasn't yet confirmed "which government assistance the company received and in what country."
Tesla didn't immediately return a request for comment.
The automaker, after outcry, shut down its sole US production plant in Fremont, California, earlier this year as the state and local governments closed nonessential businesses and put stay-at-home orders into place. Tesla's plant near Shanghai, China, also shut down for a period of time this year as COVID-19 spread in the country.
What is clear is the assistance was useful to Tesla: The automaker said the benefits nearly eliminated all costs associated with idling production plants.
