Tesla’s first profit came by asking customers to pay up early

It was 1 a.m. Monday morning when I wrote that Tesla Motors' surprise first-quarter profit was noteworthy in part because it can't count its vehicles as sold until it gives the key fob to its customers. Turns out in my bleary-eyed state I'd not though of another way for Tesla to make its milestone, as discovered by Bloomberg TV: Asking customers to cough up their payments early in the name of helping Tesla.

To recap: Most automakers count a vehicle as sold — and book the revenue from that transaction — when the car leaves the factory bound for a dealership. (Their finance arms are often paying them that cash in the form of dealer "floorplan" financing, but that's another story). Because Tesla has no dealers, it either delivers the cars to people in person or allows them to pick them up at the Fremont, Calif., factory. While that gives Tesla more control and a more personal experience, it also means the company carries the cost of its vehicle inventory and slows down its cash flow by a couple of weeks until payment from customers arrive, typically when they get their cars.

After the profit revelation, Bloomberg TV's Cory Johnson found the company had emailed some customers who were about to get their cars and asked them for a little boost: