Car loans for Ford, Nissan and Tesla to go green

The US government is playing smart. They said I will give you the money, to automobile companies, but I want you to make it green. Smart and practical. Through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program Ford, Nissan and Tesla have been selected for this fund. Ford Motor gets loans totaling $5.9 billion, going to a variety of fuel efficiency initiatives, while a $1.6 billion loan to Nissan is intended to help it refit a Tennessee plant for electric car production. Tesla Motors will get a $465 million loan, most of which will be used to build production facilities for the recently announced Model S electric sedan.

Ford will be releasing an electric vehicle in 2011, co-developed with parts supplier Magna Steyr. The company will use its loans to produce that vehicle, along with a commercial electric vehicle based on its Transit model in 2010. Nissan has promised to launch their entry powered by a lithium ion battery pack in 2010. So when something hits you hard you go back to ideas that the cavemen used to survive. This is how you learn. Good thing.
[Cnet]