[1776 Reborn]

I thought they got a hand out:

June 2009 Tesla was approved to receive US$465 million in interest-bearing loans from the United States Department of Energy. The funding, part of an US$8 billion program for advanced vehicle technologies (Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program), supports engineering and production of the Model S sedan, as well as the development of powertrain technology that Tesla plans to sell to other automakers.[39] The low-interest loans are not related to the "bailout" funds that GM and Chrysler have received, nor are they related to the 2009 economic stimulus package. The Department of Energy loan program was created in 2007 during the George Bush administration in order to get more fuel-efficient vehicle options to U.S. consumers and to decrease the country's dependence on foreign oil.[40]

[flying_bullet]

I’ll bet the handout was to fund the recall.

[jessduntno]

I will not go into details, but ... I had a conversation with a couple of their “engineers” about equipment they were looking for in the manufacturing process ... and they were so clueless about what they were doing it was unbelievable ... and this was just about 18 months ago ... it was like a conversation I might have had with someone if I was trying to build a space shuttle ... that is how over their heads they were. I’m surprised they got ANYTHING onto the market.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Thanks for the information. I wondered about federal funds. All of this “Green “ movement smells of taxpayer fraud.

[Pan_Yan]

And just to complete the circle Tesla spent $42 million to buy a defunct factory from GM and another $15 million for the equipment in the plant, also from GM.