Tesla Motors To Pay Off Government Loan 5 Years Early

fredan sends word of a post at the Tesla Motors blog detailing how the company will be paying off its $465 million government loan 5 years early. Quoting: "This is a significant announcement both for Tesla and for the DOE. It is a marker of the successful launch of the Model S and the incredible market reaction to this award-winning car. And it is a tribute to the success of the DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program (ATVM), a program which was chartered by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush, to accelerate the market for a broad range of promising automotive efficiency technologies — electric vehicles (EVs) principal among them. ... Following more than a year of thorough due diligence by commercial auditors, automotive consultants and lawyers, on January 20, 2010, Tesla became the recipient of one of three initial DOE loans announced by Secretary Chu, along with Ford and Nissan – good company for a start-up automaker. Tesla’s loan of $465 million was to be paid back over ten years following the start of production of the Model S. Months later in a separate announcement, an ATVM loan was announced for Fisker. It is worth noting that in comparison with these three other recipients, Tesla had the smallest loan. Ford’s loan was for $5.9 billion, Nissan’s was for $1.4 billion, and Fisker’s was for $529 million. ... We expect to generate sufficient cash and profitability in our business over the next five years that it gives us confidence to proceed with this early repayment of the loan. Moreover, it is also consistent with Tesla’s mantra of speed that we would, as Elon announced last week, accelerate the repayment of our loan, a full five years earlier than required under the original loan terms, making our last payment in 2017."

Headline is a lie

[Attila Dimedici]

Tesla has not paid off their loan five years early. All they have done is announce that they INTEND to pay off their loan five years early, four years from now. So, before we jump up and down and talk about how this vindicates the loan program, let's wait and see if it actually happens. That does not mean that this is not good news, but only time will tell if it actually works out.

Re:Jackpot?

[romanval]

They didn't have to bribe anyone. The Model S is a highly acclaimed car from everyone else's perspective:

• Automobile Magazine's 2013 Car of the Year
• Motor Trend 2013 Car of the Year.
• Popular Science's Auto Grand Award Winner Best of What's New list 2012.
• Time Magazine Best 25 Inventions of the Year 2012 award.
• Yahoo! Autos 2013 Car of the Year.
• CNET Tech Car of the Year for 2012
• Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2013
• 2013 AutoGuide.com Reader’s Choice Car of the Year
• Natural Resources Canada 2013 EcoENERGY for Vehicles Awards in the full-size category

 
Not bad for a car company that didn't exist 10 years ago