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Tesla was part of that program and without that loan they would not be around today. Also, the loans are expected to profitable [1], although I read somewhere
by pyoung 11y ago
Tesla was part of that program and without that loan they would not be around today. Also, the loans are expected to profitable [1], although I read somewhere that when accounting for administration costs, the program overall would end up slightly in the red[2]. Regardless, the program created/saved thousands of jobs and provided badly needed financing to companies during one of the worst recessions in decades, which in my book means it was very successful.
[1] http://energy.gov/lpo/portfolio http://energy.gov/lpo/portfolio
[2] The bill that created the program required that the loans be given out 'at cost'. Had the DOE been allowed to charge even modestly more, or had they asked for stock options as part of their deals, the program could have been wildly profitable.
- gozur88 11y ago>Tesla was part of that program and without that loan they would not be around today. I like Tesla, but it's still not entirely clear Tesla is a viable ongoing enterprise. If Tesla can't make money with the Model 3 it's unlikely to survive in the long term.
- mikeyouse 11y agoIn the mean time they fully paid back their DOE loans, have paid billions in salaries / benefits, spent billions at suppliers, built considerable useful infrastructure, and accelerated the progress of electric vehicles by some amount of time. I'd say it's a net win from the taxpayer perspective.
- chc 11y agoCouldn't you say this about any company? Anybody is unlikely to survive in the long term if they can't make money with their products. But from everything I've read, Tesla has made money with their vehicles so far, so I don't see why you'd worry about the Model 3.