They lost me on ".. achieve cost synergies .."
For Tesla and Solar City the overhead could come from simply not operating similar enough companies to allow much in terms of integration. In the longer term it could even cost money.
Such talk is usually just a way to butter up investors ahead of a deal, it's just part of the sales process.
That's what Tesla is probably hoping for anyway, I highly doubt it will work out quite that nicely. This seems like a highly risky acquisition from a financial perspective for both companies.