Posted on 12/10/2008 11:03:34 AM PST by Red Badger
After yesterday's good news regarding delivery of the 100th Tesla Roadster, it's back to number-crunching reality. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the Detroit Free Press that if the electric car maker doesn't get a $350 million loan from the government, then the Model S will be delayed and San Jose plant won't open. Just two weeks ago, Tesla opposed the Big Three getting any bailout money from the government. So, Musk's statement may seem contradictory, but it's not. We just need to look at the details.
Tesla's Vice President of Business Development, Diarmuid O'Connell, blogged about how it was a bad idea for the Big Three to get money that had been set aside in the December 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), specifically Section 136. Section 136 set up the Advanced Technology Vehicles Loan Program (ATVMLP), and Tesla opposed taking money that was supposed to make cars cleaner and instead use it to just keep the Big Three operating. Now, Tesla is asking for some of those Section 136 green car funds, something that the New York Times columnist Randall Stross doesn't want. Musk said that if the government shells out the $350 million, Tesla could sell 20,000 electric sedans a year by 2011.
Does that include benefits or do you want benefits in addition to the $$$$?
Except for four doors, it’s an exact copy!.....Somebody been playin’ wit photoshop at Tesla.........
In other news, Rolls Royce said it would need at LEAST $2 billion to continue producing its most expensive models, those over $400,000.
Percy Lungasp, Director of Marketing at Saudi Rolls Inc., said, “One simply cannot get decent coachwork for less than $300,000 these days and for quality, one must pay up.”
When the interviewer suggesteed that the luxury cars were not very “green” Lungasp seized the poor fellow by the collar and threw him into street, saying, “You can find plenty of green autos here, and red and blue too!”.
Rolls Royce will be seeking funds from the U.S. soon to allow them to put a thicker plating of platinum on the engine blocks and under carriage to increase sales.
The weather is next.
Hahaha that pictures about right, a “cool” car surrounded by the only people who can remotely justify the rediculous cost for no real benefit... old stodgies.
And that’s exactly it: if the feds are handing out big bucks to those who merely ask, then get in line! Talk up a good line, persuade the keepers of the treasury to hand some of it over - talk is cheap, especially if free money is to be had. Make up a good story and get richly rewarded for it. Of course the automakers will ask for no-strings-attached bailout money...
I think I can manage to do my own benefits at $10 mil. / yr. :-)
Asking for public funds? The greatest genius of the 20th century Nikola Tesla would never approve.
Tesla to Unveil Model S Sedan on March 26 and Has Been Accepted for $350 Millon in Government Loans to Build it.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1018497_breaking-tesla-to-unveil-model-s-sedan-on-march-26-and-has-been-accepted-for-350-m-in-government-loans-to-build-it
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