The company, long focused on cars and trucks, plans to begin manufacturing large batteries used by utilities, data centers, other businesses and homeowners.
Ford Motor shut down a battery factory and laid off 1,600 workers after President Trump and Republicans gutted government support for electric vehicles.
The billionaire’s decision to merge his A.I. start-up with his rocket company will test investors’ interest in giant combinations of unalike businesses.
SpaceX’s launchpad near Brownsville, Texas. In addition to rockets and satellites, Elon Musk’s company now includes artificial intelligence and social media businesses.
The automaker also said it would invest $2 billion in xAI, the artificial intelligence company controlled by its C.E.O., Elon Musk, and stop making the two oldest models in its lineup.
Falling car sales have taken a toll on Tesla’s net profit. The company announced Wednesday that it would stop producing its S and X model cars within months.
U.S. trade policy has devastated the Canadian auto industry and pushed the country to reach an agreement that will make it easier for Chinese companies to sell cars there.
Electric vehicles at a Volkswagen plant in Dresden, Germany. The company is an extreme example of how difficult it has been for foreign automakers to cope in the U.S. car market.
Battery assembly at a General Motors facility in Spring Hill, Tenn. Electric cars have become more difficult to sell since the elimination of federal tax credits last year.
Shares of Tesla have hit new highs on optimism about the company’s self-driving taxis. But experts say Tesla is far behind Waymo, which has a big head start.
Ford Motor said the costs came from its decision to make fewer electric vehicles than it had planned and more hybrids that use both gasoline engines and batteries.