Made In USA: Tesla Gets $465M Dept Of Energy Loan To Build Electric Sedan

Mostly I'm posting this because of the cool picture. I mean, just look at this thing:

Tesla Motors lands $465M loan with feds to build Palo Alto plant

Tesla Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday signed a landmark $465 million loan agreement that will allow the electric car maker to build a power train manufacturing plant in Palo Alto.
The agreement also paves the way for Tesla Motors to build a facility in Southern California where it will manufacture its upcoming all-electric Model S sedan.

It is only the second loan agreement the Department of Energy has signed with an "advanced technology vehicle manufacturer" under a program created in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The federal agency first reached a $5.9 billion loan agreement with Ford Motor Co. in September.

This all-electric sedan will seat 7, have a 300-mile range and cost about $50,000 - half what their current roadster costs. And this is with limited production so the price should drop from the car-price stratosphere as they ramp up. Charging can take as little as 45 minutes, and a new battery pack can be switched in in 5 minutes.

Because it is electric this car will go from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds. And, according to Treehugger,

Because it's a 100% electric car, there's space for second trunk under the hood. This means that the Tesla Model S will compete with much larger vehicles when it comes to cargo space. Tesla describes it as "more space than a station wagon", but because of the convenience of the rear hatch and the 60/40 folding seats, the Model S could actually compete with some SUVs.

. . . Tesla says that even though (after tax credit) the Model S electric sedan will cost $49,900, it will compete with gasoline cars in the $35,000 range because of the savings on fuel.

OKAY, yes, even though I live right near where this new factory will be built, I grew up in Michigan and the Chevy Volt is also coming along. And it has a cool picture as well:

Yee-ha! Cars!

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