The co-founder of Tesla Motors set another milestone for his electric car company today by making a final $451.8 million payment on the $465 million loan from the U.S. government — nine years earlier than scheduled. The massive payment came courtesy of a stock offering last week that raised $1 billion for the California automaker, made possible after it revealed its first quarterly profit. The move makes Tesla the only automaker to have paid back its Department of Energy loan in full — yet another talking point for Musk's EV drive.
Now comes the hard part.
It's fair to point out that other automakers received far larger loans from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program; Ford borrowed $5.9 billion, while Nissan took $1.4 billion, both for modernizing plants and vehicles to build hybrid and electric vehicles. It's equally fair to note both have far more resources than Tesla to pay back those loans and attempt to reap a similar victory lap to the one Iacocca made after paying off Chrysler's bailout early in 1983.
Tesla's pay-off marks a rare bit of good news for the Department of Energy program, which has seen its loans to Fisker and an Indiana start-up end in shuttered companies. When it was made in 2010, the loan gave Tesla credibility among private investors, something rival EV startups which couldn't get such backing were never able to generate.
“I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate,” Musk said in a statement. “I hope we did you proud.”
Read more
Popular Posts
-
Woman Places Soul For Sale On eBay - Woman Sells Soul eBay, A car crash victim who broke her leg, hip and pelvis in a horrific smash is p... -
The First Baby With Three Biological Parents The first baby with three biological parents could be conceived next year after the Governmen... -
September 11 increased smoking, The 9/11 attacks on America caused around one million former smokers to take up the habit again in the ...
-
Kids need cholesterol checks too, panel says, Panel: Test every child for cholesterol by age 11. Every child should be tested for high chol... -
Holmes death penalty: Decision doesn't rule out plea deal later. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Aurora movie shooter James ...
-
Fibromyalgia Talk Therapy , Talk therapy done over the phone helped some people suffering chronic fibromyalgia-related pain to feel better ...
-
A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. government had properly classified top secret more than 50 images of al Qaeda leader...
-
Interesting facts about cigarettes Interesting facts about cigarettes. Cigarettes - best-selling thing on the planet. Whole trillion cigar... -
ODD combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a neurological disorder thought to be ca...
-
Royals Named Olympic Ambassadors, Prince William, Kate and Prince Harry named Olympics ambassadors. (CBS) Prince William, Duchess Kate and...
Posts
