Elon Musk defends controversial SolarCity merger

Tesla Motors defended its controversial merger with SolarCity on Tuesday, claiming the $2.6 billion deal will add more than $500 million in cash to its balance sheet over the next three years.

The electric-car maker headed by billionaire Elon Musk also said SolarCity would contribute more than $1 billion in revenue next year if the merger is approved by investors in a Nov. 17 vote.

“I’m pretty optimistic about where the vote’s going,” Musk told analysts on a Tuesday conference call, citing early indications from major shareholders.

Musk — who with stakes of 19 percent and 22 percent of Tesla and SolarCity, respectively, is the bigger shareholder of each company — gained a leg up on critics last week when Tesla reported its first quarterly profit in more than three years and said it might also be profitable in the fourth quarter.

On Tuesday, Musk shrugged off critics who fret that SolarCity’s debt and mounting losses will be a distraction for Tesla as it ramps up production of the lower-priced Model 3 next year.

“Those that predict a bad outcome, how good have they been at predicting the outcome of Tesla in the past?” Musk said.

The PayPal co-founder said merging Tesla with SolarCity will create a seamless experience for customers looking to buy solar panels, home batteries and solar roofs.

“Over time, I think most customers are going to opt for all three,” Musk told analysts.