Tesla also needs more cash soon, as it prepares to start making the Model Y — its cheaper SUV built on the Model 3 sedan platform. And Tesla is building a plant in Shanghai that it hopes will make half a million vehicles for the Chinese market every year. Even so, the talk of a cash crunch has quieted down somewhat, at least compared to last year. "From our standpoint we wouldn't characterize Tesla as having a robust liquidity position by any means, but it's less tenuous than it was six to nine months ago," said Bruce Clark, credit analyst at Moody's.