Posted on 01/25/2010 4:28:22 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Tesla Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday finalized a landmark $465 million loan agreement that will allow the electric car maker to build a power train manufacturing plant in Palo Alto.
The agreement also paves the way for Tesla Motors to build a facility in Southern California where it will manufacture its upcoming all-electric Model S sedan.
It is only the second loan agreement the Department of Energy has signed with an "advanced technology vehicle manufacturer" under a program created in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The federal agency first reached a $5.9 billion loan agreement with Ford Motor Co. in September.
"We are honored that the U.S. government selected Tesla to be among the first companies to participate in this visionary program. This loan will allow us to further accelerate the production of affordable, fuel-efficient electric vehicles," Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said in a statement on the company's Web site.
Best known for its sporty all-electric Roadster, Tesla Motors expects to begin delivering the seven-passenger Model S in 2011. The Southern California plant will allow the company to produce as many as 20,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2013, the Department of Energy said.
The Model S will have a range of up to 300 miles and take about 45 minutes to charge, according to Tesla Motors' Web site. Prices are expected to start just shy of $50,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
What a waste when they don’t have a viable battery...
Fascism Alert.
Something one could buy without a bailout bonus.
“We are such a generous nation.”
Well, but a Palo Alto plant makes such good sense...cheap labor, low real estate costs, easy access to the auto supply industry (Gomer Pyle voice) “I could just go on and on...”
“The Model S will have a range of up to 300 miles and take about 45 minutes to charge, according to Tesla Motors’ Web site. Prices are expected to start just shy of $50,000.”
This is such a joke. If this was truly a promising and cost effective technology there would be private investors lining up. Tesla will be receiving a bailout in a few years.
Wow, and they won’t solve a dang thing! Where is the electricity to power them going to come from? Idiots, these theiving politicians are so generous with our money aren’t they?
Literally dozens of closed auto plants scattered across this nation, along with trained workforces, and Tesla has to build a new plant in Silicon Valley, one of the highest real estate markets in the nation?
Genius.
Is that right on the fault line or only a mile or two away?
Not if they build it in California. They will be lucky if they can built them for twice that cost.
Just remember Tesla spelled backwards is al set. The greenies may be all set, but they got no place to go.
Let private capital fund this if it is a good idea.
Say Norm, mind if I stop by your place to visit? BTW, do you have a place to plug in my car?
Let me count the ways you can spell B-O-O-N-D-O-G-G-L-E
which will probably be protested/delayed/made more costly by environmentalists.
You can’t make that determination yet. If Tesla pays us back, then all is well. Just like the bank bailout.
just bring a long extension cord.
An anagram of Tesla is: least.
Of course, all the usual liberal bigwigs are invested in Tesla. I’m pretty sure even Al Gore has a stake, as does the Google owners. Nothing more than a government subsidy for expensive toys for big Democratic Party donors in Silicon Valley.
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