Tesla DOE Loan Repayment to Finish Years Early

Luke Vandezande
by Luke Vandezande

With confidence in spades, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said yesterday that the electric car maker will repay its $465 million government loan in “five years or less.”

The announcement came just days after Musk said he expects the company to be profitable in 2013. Indeed, deliveries of the brand’s second vehicle – the Model S – have picked up with 2,400 shipped in the fourth quarter compared to only 250 during the previous three.

Despite that, Tesla is still losing money so far. The company posted a loss of $89.9 million in the fourth quarter.

SEE ALSO: Chinese Volvo Owners Likely to Buy Fisker

Tesla is faring relatively well, though, compared to automakers like Fisker. Last year the maker of the exotic Karma plug-in hybrid suffered a salvo of negative press after several of its cars caught fire in separate scenarios. Now, Fisker is looking for possible suitors.

Discuss this story at Tesla-Buzz.com

[Source: Automotive News]

Luke Vandezande
Luke Vandezande

Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.

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