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Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

teslamotors.com

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Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#11

Post by 3am »

snprbob86 wrote: post #4

The subtitle says: "ONLY AMERICAN CAR COMPANY TO HAVE PAID BACK GOVERNMENT" Assuming that's true, I'm not sure whether I should be proud of Tesla, ashamed of our Government, or angered at other car companies. Probably all three...

Why be mad at anything? At most be mad at car makers for running so leveraged that they had liquidity problems at the same time that all the major lenders in the financial system ran into solvency problems (and feel free to be mad at the financial sector)

But given that, it was _excellent_ government policy to guarantee loans to the automakers, just from a cost/benefit perspective. And there's no shame in not going above and beyond the repayment terms of a loan - but good for Tesla for doing so (and great marketing).

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#12

Post by mrkmcknz »

Didn't Tesla repay this loan back with another loan:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-tesla-stock-idU...

I'm not a market economics kind of guy but I don't see how this is any kind of special achievement. Surely any other car manufacturer could have done precisely this?

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#13

Post by apaprocki »

mrkmcknz wrote: post #12

Didn't Tesla repay this loan back with another loan: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-tesla-stock-idU... I'm not a market economics kind of guy but I don't see how this is any kind of special achievement. Surely any other car manufacturer could have done precisely this?

Not if the rate was 10%, 20%, etc. It's just a form of bootstrapping. The government stepped in and bootstrapped it so now the private sector can finance it normally.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#14

Post by matt_brushlabs »

I don't know if Elon should be so quick to thumb his nose at the other auto manufacturers. For one, he's facing a pretty substantial uphill climb WRT dealership laws in a lot of states, and rattling the snake cage won't win any friends.

On the other hand, when brand value (save Ford) for the domestics is strikingly low, maybe he's throwing punches exactly when he needs to.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#15

Post by cinquemb »

mrkmcknz wrote: post #12

Didn't Tesla repay this loan back with another loan: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-tesla-stock-idU... I'm not a market economics kind of guy but I don't see how this is any kind of special achievement. Surely any other car manufacturer could have done precisely this?

Maybe it isn't a special achievement if you're suggesting GM could pull this off.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#16

Post by twistedpair »

mrkmcknz wrote: post #12

Didn't Tesla repay this loan back with another loan: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-tesla-stock-idU... I'm not a market economics kind of guy but I don't see how this is any kind of special achievement. Surely any other car manufacturer could have done precisely this?

Seems that not all electric car companies getting loans from the US gov't are repaying their loans.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#17

Post by meterplech »

mrkmcknz wrote: post #12

Didn't Tesla repay this loan back with another loan: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-tesla-stock-idU... I'm not a market economics kind of guy but I don't see how this is any kind of special achievement. Surely any other car manufacturer could have done precisely this?

The story is that they paid it back via the private market, meaning that the financial community believes in the company enough that they no longer need public support.

Incidentally, they did issue corporate debt (a form of a loan, sure), but also issued more equity as well.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#18

Post by preinheimer »

matt_brushlabs wrote: post #14

I don't know if Elon should be so quick to thumb his nose at the other auto manufacturers. For one, he's facing a pretty substantial uphill climb WRT dealership laws in a lot of states, and rattling the snake cage won't win any friends. On the other hand, when brand value (save Ford) for the domestics is strikingly low, maybe he's throwing punches exactly when he needs to.

He's not fighting car makers, he's fighting the (generally very independent) dealers in those states. Playing nice isn't going to have them withdrawing their complaints.

At this point better PR, and a mention on the six o'clock news seems worth it.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#19

Post by axus »

andrewtbham wrote: post #9

I own Tesla stock and I'm glad to see this. Tesla has been a highly politicized stock... largely because Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin called it a "loser." My hope is that this will help get rid of that stigma and help them with their image and political battle with dealerships in red states, like North Carolina and Texas. This also removes some strings attached to the DOE loan. For instance, Tesla could be acquired (a…

I wondered if the payback a political move; something to make the U.S. government look good after the problems with Solyndra and Fisker Automotive. Mentioning the other auto companies doesn't sound like an attempt to make the government look good, though, just Tesla.

Re: Tesla Repays Department of Energy Loan Nine Years Early

#20

Post by twistedpair »

andrewtbham wrote: post #9

I own Tesla stock and I'm glad to see this. Tesla has been a highly politicized stock... largely because Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin called it a "loser." My hope is that this will help get rid of that stigma and help them with their image and political battle with dealerships in red states, like North Carolina and Texas. This also removes some strings attached to the DOE loan. For instance, Tesla could be acquired (a…

Don't forget, we tried to make Tesla dealerships illegal first here in Mass. NC was late on that one, so let's not make it a "Red State" matter.
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