Sports Car Maker Tesla Motors Receives Loan from US Government to Build Sedan
For most of us the name “Tesla Motors” conjures up images of the incredibly cool Tesla Roadster. The ultimate green exotic car, the Tesla Roadster stays green while getting incredible performance, but it has an exotic car price tag in the six figures.
Ferrari 360 Spyder rental from DFW Elite Auto Rental.com
Now, Tesla Motors will begin work on a much more affordable family sedan. The project is receiving funding from the US Department of Energy as part of the Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Tesla Motors will be receiving $465 million in low-interest loans to help speed the production of the new sedan.
The sedan, called the Model S, is expected to have a base price under $50,000 after customers apply a $7,500 tax credit for green vehicles. However, the sticker price of the Model S is misleading, since ownership costs are expected to be significantly lower than a conventional vehicle. Lower ownership costs put the sedan’s real price at around $35,000.
The Model S is completely electric and has a range of up to 300 miles, making it a viable alternative to the gasoline-powered family car. The sedan will seat up to seven people comfortably and will emit nothing at all from the tailpipe.
It’s expected that driving the Model S will cost a little over 2 cents per mile, making it far more cost effective than even the most fuel-efficient gasoline engine. It will be possible to recharge the car at any conventional outlet.
The Model S will also qualify for numerous tax credits and incentives. In addition, owners will be eligible for free parking at many locations and will be able to use the commuter lanes in many cities. Maintenance on the vehicle is minimal, since there are fewer working parts than in a gasoline-powered engine.
For fans of exotic vehicles, the developments at Tesla are very exciting. Soon, it will be possible to commute in a car like the Model S and drive an exotic vehicle on the weekend. Exotic car rental makes it possible to drive your dream car without the hassle and expense of owning an exotic vehicle.
Owners of exotic cars complain of difficulty finding certified maintenance, expensive exotic car insurance, hard to find exotic car storage, and host of other hassles. For many, it’s simply more efficient to rent an exotic car or join an exotic car sharing club.
The Tesla Model S is expected to debut in 2011, and Tesla is currently taking reservations online.
Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.
Eric on June 25th 2009 in Exotic Car Rental
Carla Pete responded on 26 Jun 2009 at 10:29 am #
Regarding the politics of the DOE ATVM Loan awards:
Ford paid over $14M to elected officials and consultants in order to get the loan. Ford paid the third largest amount and Ford got the third largest loan. This is disclosed in public records searches and lobby filings just revealed. 21 elected officials had direct benefit from the deal.
Nissan paid over $10M to elected officials and consultants in order to get the loan. Nissan paid the third largest amount and Nissan got the third largest loan. This is disclosed in public records searches and lobby filings just revealed. The law and public statements by elected officials state that the money was to increase American competitiveness for America car companies yet the money was given to a Japanese company who will send all of the profits back to Japan. 7 elected officials had direct benefit from the deal.
Tesla paid over $100M to elected officials and consultants in order to get the loan. Tesla paid the third largest amount and Tesla got the third largest loan. This is disclosed in public records searches and lobby filings just revealed. Tesla’s filings show that their business model is unsustainable compared to competitors, that they were 200% off on the BOM of their car, that all of their first funding was wasted so they have to pay back twice as much to investors as competing companies and that their technology is so old, it all needs to be redone yet they still got money. 18 elected officials had direct benefit from the deal. Tesla did not even read the rules for the loan and planned to build a building when the NEPA rules make that option impossible so they had to restart the process, which is supposed to put one into a new cycle yet they were kept in the previous cycle and put ahead of Fisker, Bright and others who had applied earlier than Tesla.
The ATVM program was created by Ford, GM & Chrysler lobbyists to pad their company’s pockets and those three had pre-hardwired the entire $25B for their own pockets but something happened in the process when Senator Bingaman added a few key lines that opened the door for OTHERS to apply to build green technology and required that those who get the money were “financially sustainable” businesses. Back when the ATVM was authored to save Detroit, it was fully known that Detroit was going to go bankrupt. Ford had the same problems as GM and Chrysler but they went around the world getting bailout money instead of going first to US funds. As law required public exposure of the bankruptcy, Bingaman’s brilliant plan to finally create a green transportation industry was revealed. The very people that had stopped green cars for over 100 years suddenly became the first people to, accidently, cause them to happen but now others could do it too. Once Detroit realized this, they tried to hijack the whole ATVM program with a takeback at the end of 2008 but that effort was defeated by a close late night vote. Now that it was out there, Detroit lobbyists and influencers fought to get the review of applicants delayed for as long as possible because they realized that, in a recession, most of the smaller competing interests could be forced to go out of business if they could just be kept away from the money for long enough. Major American TARP banks have said that the standard commercial loan process that each of these 26 applicants (not hundreds of applicants- There were 26 applicants in the round) should take 4 weeks at the longest and 3 weeks nominally. It seems clear that the loans were delayed due to political agendas and not process issues.
Bright Automotive had applied on time, ahead of the others, turned in low overhead numbers and a great path too profit but they were virtually ignored while intensive meetings were conducted with Nissan, Ford and Tesla because those parties paid for it. The law says that this, and the purchasing of favors, gave those parties an unfair business advantage using taxpayer dollars, over Bright. A case Bright would easily win if they choose to run with it.
Clearly, it isn’t over yet. Stay tuned for the Senate, Congressional, Ethics Committee and media reviews of this one. Watch for the charts connecting who-to-who.
(Feel free to re-post this)
Carla Pete responded on 26 Jun 2009 at 10:46 am #
Typo- Tesla paid 100K not 100M