Oil and gas supplier says Tesla is ‘refusing to pay’ $2 million in past-due bills – and that chaotic staffing has only made it worse

A Texas-based energy supplier says Tesla is “refusing to pay” over $2 million it owes for fuel deliveries to its Austin manufacturing plant – with some transactions dating to more than two years ago – and that the electric carmaker’s chaotic internal processes have only served to make matters even worse.

Sun Coast Resources, which is headquartered in Houston and operates in 49 U.S. states, accuses Tesla of having floated “a myriad of procedural reasons it has not paid,” according to a breach of contract lawsuit obtained by The Independent.

“Tesla's only reason for not paying Sun Coast is that Sun Coast has allegedly not complied with its requirements for invoice submittals,” the company’s complaint states. “To the contrary, Sun Coast has jumped through all of Tesla's proverbial hoops and provided all the documentation Tesla has requested, often multiple times, and Tesla continues to delay and make excuses as to why it has not paid for products that it knows it received.”

Adding to Sun Coast’s ongoing frustration, the complaint says Tesla “has had constant personnel turnover and passed Sun Coast off from person to person who only conjures up some new reason as to why Tesla has not paid.”

Still, according to the complaint, which was filed April 16 in Harris County Circuit Court, Sun Coast has duly “responded to all of the different Tesla personnel involved and submitted the requested information to Tesla in every format requested.”

A Tesla spokesperson did not respond Friday to a request for comment. Messages sent to the attorneys representing Sun Coast Resources in the case went unreturned.

Tesla has faced fierce blowback from consumers worldwide in the wake of CEO Elon Musk’s anointment as “First Buddy” to President Donald Trump. The mercurial billionaire has crowed gleefully about the draconian cuts his so-called Department of Government Efficiency has made to federal agencies and programs, while purging seniors from the Social Security rolls, eliminating federal funding for cancer research and putting nearly 300,000 federal workers on the unemployment line.

As a result, Tesla dealerships have been firebombed, Tesla vehicles have been vandalized and Tesla sales have seen their biggest decline in history. Last month, Tesla was accused in a federal class-action suit of manipulating its odometers to make their warranties expire sooner. On Wednesday, Musk angrily denied reports that the Tesla board is seeking a new CEO amid concerns his political involvement has damaged Tesla’s reputation and stock price.

Tesla began construction of its Austin “Gigafactory,” which builds the Model Y and the Cybertruck, in July 2020, according to the complaint filed by Sun Coast Resources.

“While Tesla designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles and battery energy storage devices, it required the use of heavy equipment, which required diesel, gasoline and other fuel products, to construct its new Texas facility,” the complaint explains.

So, in August 2020, Sun Coast and Tesla signed a master services agreement for fuel deliveries to the site, which is the size of 100 professional soccer fields, the complaint goes on.

In December 2022, Sun Coast agreed to renegotiate its pricing and expand the fuel deliveries to include Tesla headquarters and Tesla’s nearby logistics park, according to the complaint.

“The typical process included a Tesla representative requesting the delivery of the fuel, and Sun Coast making the requisite delivery,” the complaint states. “Tesla required that Sun Coast invoice on a weekly basis so the invoices that were submitted to Tesla would include multiple deliveries on one invoice… Most of the time, Tesla would provide a purchase order number to Sun Coast for the product after it was delivered.”

In all, between August 2020 and August 2024, Tesla paid Sun Coast a total of $20,721,923.06 for the fuel it purchased, the complaint says.

“However,” it continues, “Tesla did not pay for all of the fuel delivered by Sun Coast.”

While Tesla “has never denied receiving the fuel,” it has offered a raft of justifications for its failure to make good on an outstanding debt of $2,638,777.55, according to the complaint.

A spreadsheet Sun Coast filed as an exhibit in court shows unpaid invoices from as far back as January 2023.

“Most recently, Sun Coast and its counsel had a joint call with numerous Tesla representatives and its counsel,” the complaint states, noting that Sun Coast, “[o]nce again… walked the Tesla representatives through the information to show that it has the necessary back up for its invoices to be paid.”

Still, according to the complaint, even after Tesla promised to respond “within days to the information Sun Coast provided and pay at least some of the invoices, [the company] is still refusing to pay for the fuel that it ordered and received.”

“Sun Coast filed this lawsuit to recover the money it is owed by Tesla,” the complaint says.

Sun Coast is now asking the court to force Tesla to pay its $2.6 million bill, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.