Will build sedan plant and one to manufacture powertrains
by Adam Zarboni
Tesla Motors has been approved to receive a low interest loan from the US Department of Energy of approximately $US465 million in order to accelerate the introduction of electric and fuel-efficient vehicles.
Most of the money will be used to produce the Model S, an all electric family sedan. Tesla hopes that the car will have a base price of 49,900 (after a $7,500 US tax credit), and Tesla says that with fuel savings this brings the price down to about $35,000. Production of the model is expected to begin in 2011, and the plant will employ approximately a thousand workers.
The final $100 million will be used to create an all an electric powertrain manufacturing plant. The factory will supply all electric powertrain solutions to other automakers, and will greatly increase the availability of electric vehicles across the market.
The loans are being negotiated under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program which began in 2007 to encourage current and new manufactures to create more fuel efficient vehicles and to decrease America's dependence on foreign oil sources. The program has a budget of $25 billion, and is unrelated to the "bail out" funds offered to the US automakers.
"Tesla will use the ATVM loan precisely the way that Congress intended -- as the capital needed to build sustainable transport," said Tesla CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk. "We are honored that the US government selected Tesla to be among the first companies to participate in this progressive program."