The U.S. Department of Energy is set to announce tomorrow which car companies would receive federal loans promoting fuel efficient cars.
Tesla, Nissan and Ford should be part of the announcement. Ford has applied for up to $11 billion from the program. Tesla has asked for $350 million to build the Model S, its four-door all-electric sedan, and another $100 million for a powertrain manufacturing plant. Nissan hasn't disclosed how much it would like to receive.
Congress set aside $25 billion for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM), which aims to fund efforts by automakers and parts suppliers to manufacture equipment for building energy efficient cars.
Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., is counting on federal loans for bringing the Model S to the market. The company, founded in 2003, designed its first all-electric vehicle to be an expensive sports car, called the Roadster. The Roadster is priced at around $109,000. Tesla is charging $57,400 for the Model S, and hopes to roll out future models that would be cheaper. The company unveiled a prototype Model S earlier this year. The plan is to bring the car to market in late 2011.
Source : Green Tech Media, by Ucilia Wang, June 22nd, 2009
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