In its first quarterly earnings report since going public in late June, Tesla Motors posted late Wednesday a second-quarter loss of $38.5 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $10.9 million.
Shares of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based electric car maker fell as much as 3% to $20.60 in after hours-trade. The stock debuted at $17 a share on June 29.
CEO Elon Musk says losses will continue until at 2012 when the company can start producing its mass-market $57,000 Model S.
Losses were attributed to higher research and development costs, especially those associated with the engineering of the Model S.
Tesla makes the $109,000 electric Roadster and is planning to build its new Model S sedan at the former NUMMI auto plant in Fremont.
