This just simply isn't true. Losing the money means they spent it and got nothing for it. But every penny they spend, they get a lot of things - battery technology, market share, mindshare, network effect lockins (superchargers), etc. Tesla isn't losing its money, its investing it.
Also,
> The purpose of Tesla is not to make money; it is to pioneer fleets of smart mass-market electric cars, and the infrastructure to support them, and battery technology which is not limited to cars. Making money is ancillary.
This is also false. It buys into Elon's marketing and it's false. The purpose of Tesla is to make money. Elon likes to say that it's not the money he is after, it's the faster pace of adoption for electric cars. But he also knows that the fastest way for this to happen is for Tesla to make money. The author is false. The purpose of Tesla is indeed to make money.