Ford, Nissan and Tesla Get Loans for Advanced Vehicle Technologies

DOE announced $8 billion in conditional loan agreements on June 23 for Ford Motor Company; Nissan North America, Inc.; and Tesla Motors, Inc. to fund the development of advanced vehicle technologies.

The loan commitments include a $5.9 billion loan to Ford for upgrading factories in five states to produce 13 more fuel-efficient models, a $1.6 billion loan to Nissan to build advanced electric vehicles and advanced batteries, and a $465 million loan to Tesla Motors to manufacture its new electric sedan.

These are the first conditional loans released under DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, which is using an open, competitive process to provide about $25 billion in loans to companies that produce cars or vehicle components in the United States. To qualify, companies must propose projects that increase fuel economy to at least 25% above 2005 fuel economy levels.

Read the DOE press release

More on the ATVM loan program