Tesla on Friday was hit with a subpoena by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is probing projections the electric carmaker made for Model 3 production rates last year.
The auto manufacturer has repeatedly missed its own production deadlines for the crucial Model 3 sedan, and is being investigated by multiple federal agencies on allegations it misled investors about its business.
The Elon Musk-led company said in a filing Friday that thus far, no government agency in ongoing investigations has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred.
“Should the government decide to pursue an enforcement action, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on our business, results of operation, prospects, cash flows, and financial position,” Tesla’s filing reads.
Tesla said last week it did not receive a US subpoena from the FBI related to its Model 3 production forecasts, following a report that it faced a deepening criminal probe about the projections.
But if Musk had any worries about the feds’ investigation, he didn’t show it in an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher on Friday, instead choosing to talk about Tesla’s long-awaited pickup truck, which he said will be like something out of the sci-fi classic “Blade Runner.”
“You know, I actually don’t know if a lot of people will buy this pickup truck or not,” he said, “ but I don’t care.”
The eccentric CEO also said that he’s been mulling a “supersonic vertical-takeoff-and-landing electric jet” for the past nine years, and eliminated the possibility of Tesla’s building a motorcycle because of the chance for injury.
“The probability of death in a motorcycle versus [a car] is 25 times higher,” he said. “So, we’re not gonna make motorcycles.”
Elsewhere in the interview, when asked about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the very same Saudi regime that invests heavily in Tesla, Musk said that he would likely not accept its money moving forward, but stopped short of condemning the regime outright.
“Saudi Arabia’s an entire country,” he said. “There are a lot of good people in Saudi Arabia, and Saudis who are outside of Saudi Arabia. So I think you cannot paint an entire country with one brush.”
Tesla shares finished the day Friday up 0.6 percent, at $346.41.
