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Tesla Nabs $465M Government Loan To Build Model S
SignalFreq writes "Tesla Motors, based in San Carlos, California, was approved yesterday for $465M in loans from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. Tesla plans to use $365M of the money to finance a manufacturing facility for the Model S (review, Letterman video) and $100M for a powertrain manufacturing plant in the SF Bay Area. 'Tesla will use the ATVM loan precisely the way that Congress intended — as the capital needed to build sustainable transport,' said Tesla CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk. Tesla expects the Model S to ship in late 2011 and the base cost to be $57,400 ($49,900 after a federal tax credit). Ford received $5.9B and Nissan received $1.6B under the same program."
courtesy of the U.S. Gubmint!
In other words the taxpayers just had half a billion stolen from them and given to some idiot Californicators to waste on building overpriced cars that will only sell if they are subsidized with yet more taxpayer dollars.
Seriously, if these cars were such a great moneymaking venture I don't think California is lacking in venture capitalists even in a recession. You only go to the government with hat in hand if you know it is a losing idea but can be made politically appealing anyway. These days you just have to say "green!" to crack open the piggy bank.
Democrat delenda est
Fail.
I tore these out of your symbol, and they turned into paper.
Yet... trust me, they will be bankrupt within 3 to 4 months with the current depressed state of new car sales in America.
Ford got in trouble before the depression started, and sold off their assets while they still had value. That was dumb luck, not foresight.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Yes, and we all know that because of all the privacy issues in Europe mostly because of their more socialist policies we really need to adopt that!
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Obama socialist?
Taking money from successful business ventures (those who can still afford to pay a slave's tax) and giving it to failed business ventures just to keep them open? That is socialism. I don't know what Alice-and-Wonderland sort of definition you're operating under that doesn't think so. The only thing wrong with saying "Obama is a socialist" is that you're keeping the list too small. Obama isn't the only one writing these punish-the-smart-to-save-the-stupid-and-greedy checks.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Go crawl back under the fucking rock you came from wacko.
No one gives a shit about your fucking loony ideology.
"...Nissan received $1.6B under the same program."
Nissan? Why is the United States government giving money to Nissan? Shouldn't the Japanese government do that and not the U. S. taxpayer?
I know that I'm going to catch hell for this and probably get modded a troll. So be it. However, as a currently unemployed U. S. citizen who has had a job and paying into the system since I was twelve, I have to wonder where the hell is my federal government bailout money? State unemployment doesn't pay hardly anything. The U. S. government gave over a billion dollars to a foreign company, but a hard working citizen like myself, who really wants to work, gets next to nothing.
I apologize for the rant.
If anybody is looking for a systems/network administrator, who has over twenty years of solid experience, in the NE Ohio area, let me know.
SiO2
I just don't know why we have to keep on waiting for an electric car we can buy off in the future. Electric cars aren't new. This isn't about innovation. There is no new technology required to deliver electric cars. Just retool the factories and get started. Now that the government owns a big part of GM why not have a cheap electric car for 2010?
"Fucking dumbass" back at you -- the GP never said it was bailout money. Your imagination inserted that in there.
I tore these out of your symbol, and they turned into paper.
Because Nissan can actually do something with the money instead of pissing it away on high priced American union labor?
How dare we invest in technology!
The private corporate environment has given us similar investments in really useful things, like erectile dysfunction cures, flavored cigarettes, ringtones, and the iPhone. Truly world changing technologies!
If the internet had been a sure fire moneymaker, it could have had private funding. Just like computers. We know what those stupid government investments have wrought.
Or maybe large energy players like Shell and Exxon actively seek out to destroy any competition to their products and have warped the market place due to their anti-competitive business practices... nah! Sounds like hippy speak to me!
The ideal and proper method for government grants, funding, etc. should never be paid out for those promising a return, but instead to those who deliver an actually return. Think of the X prize or the Android Developer Challenges where money is paid upon completion of successful projects/objectives.
The reasons are clear:
Respect the Constitution
In reading comprehension, obviously.
I tore these out of your symbol, and they turned into paper.