Renting Abandoned Parking Lots: A Concern for Tesla’s Future?

A find in a huge parking lot near St. Louis is raising eyebrows and causing some to speculate over the financial security of electric vehicle giant Tesla.

The parking lot sits outside a mall in Chesterfield, Missouri, that is about to close down permanently. And outside the mall entrance that used to host a Sears outlet sits a strange sight.

According to reports, hundreds of Tesla electric vehicles are parked hub-to-hub and just sitting there, according to KTVI-TV.

Among the models sitting unused in the parking lot are dozens of Tesla Cybertrucks and other models.

According to the Fox station, a company called The Staenberg Group owns the Chesterfield Mall, and the media reported that the company has contracted with Tesla to temporarily store its vehicles.

Tim Lowe, senior vice president of leasing and development for The Staenberg Group, told KTVI that it wanted to earn as much revenue as it could from the struggling mall property before it shuts down for good Aug. 31.

“We put a plan together to try and create alternate uses that would … be able to use some of the remaining life left in the mall before we tear it down,” Lowe said. “One of those uses was allowing people to use the parking lot for different things.”

“One of our users happens to be Tesla, who does have a dealership in the [Chesterfield] Valley, but does not have enough capacity at the dealership to park all of the cars they are bringing in,” Lowe added. “So they are renting space within the parking lot to store their cars.”

Tesla will be able to store the vehicles on the premises until the mall’s demolition begins in September.

“They’re just one of our many tenants who are using the mall [grounds] on a temporary basis while its awaiting demolition,” Lowe explained.

The auto news outlet Inside EVs reported that “savvy internet users” have noticed other locations where large quantities of EVs are apparently being stored.

“[S]everal hundred Tesla-branded EVs are waiting to be delivered at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, including some Cybertrucks,” the outlet reported.

Inside EVs also noted a Reddit post that showed photos of what it claimed were “several more hundred yet-to-be-delivered Tesla EVs” in an abandoned apartment complex parking lot in Richmond, Virginia.

Of course, it could just be that the company is anticipating sales to jump this summer, since EVs reportedly perform much better in the summer than in the winter. Cold temperatures and the use of vehicle heaters noticeably reduce the range of EVs.

Others wonder whether the unusual sight of so many stockpiled cars is a signal of something more dire.

As Jalopnik noted, Tesla manufactured 46,561 more vehicles than it sold during the first quarter of 2024.

As economic blogger Mike Shedlock reminded readers on his MishTalk website, Tesla already recently trimmed 10 percent of its workforce — “to prepare for the next phase of growth.” Not a good sign.

Shedlock commented that preparing for growth by firing workers “is like trying to lose weight by stocking the pantry with more potato chips.”