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$529M Gov't Loan To Develop $89,000 Hybrid Sports Car

Posted by Soulskill on from the please-tell-me-it-has-lasers dept.

theodp writes "The WSJ reports that a tiny car company backed by former VP Al Gore has just gotten a $529M US government loan to help build an $89,000 hybrid sports car in Finland. The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive follows an earlier $465M government loan to Tesla Motors, purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Fisker's other investors (PDF) include the Al Gharaffa Investment Co., a Cayman Islands corporation."

1 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. DERP. by iroll · · Score: 5, Informative

    Tesla got a loan to develop a sedan (from the ground up) that they will produce in the US.

    They currently sell a Lotus Elise-based sports car, because (as a start up) they couldn't afford to develop both the drivetrain AND the rest of the car. It was more efficient for them to source the body/frame from Lotus.

    Not only that, but the current generation sports car that Tesla's selling is intended to bring down the cost of the drivetrain package through production volume, while subsidizing development for the sedan.

    THE MORE YOU KNOOOW~

    --
    Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR