Tesla CEO Elon Musk: ‘I have a lot of mental scar tissue’

Tesla Motors on Wednesday reported rising sales of its luxury electric cars in this year’s second quarter — but not enough to turn a profit.

The Palo Alto company suffered a net loss of $293.2 million ($2.09 per share), a 59 percent jump from the $184.2 million loss during the same period last year.

[...] it was a substantial increase from the 11,532 vehicles delivered in the second quarter of 2015, when Tesla offered just one car — the Model S sedan.

[...] on Wednesday, the company reported that its Fremont factory — which makes both the Model S and the X — consistently built nearly 2,000 vehicles per week by the end of the second quarter, a figure that should rise to 2,400 vehicles per week by the end of the year.

“Things feel quite stable with the S and X — we’re in the mode of continuous improvement, with no fundamental issues,” Musk said Wednesday on a conference call with financial analysts.

“Investors need to see the company meet expectations, even when those expectations are for a loss,” said Rebecca Lindland, a senior analyst for the Kelley Blue Book auto information service.

Company executives, however, declined on Wednesday to provide an update on the number of Model 3 reservations received so far, sticking with a figure of 373,000 first issued in May.

Following the Model 3’s launch, Musk said the company’s next priority would be building a compact SUV, which he referred to as the Model Y.