UDATE: DOE Awards $528 Million Loan To Fisker Automotive
September 23 2009 - 3:09AM
Dow Jones News
The Obama administration said Tuesday it would lend $528 million
to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. to develop two plug-in
electric hybrid vehicles, including a luxury sports car expected to
cost $87,900 when it hits showrooms as early as next summer.
The money will come from a $25 billion government loan program
to help auto makers develop and build advanced-technology vehicles
as part of a broad congressional mandate to improve fuel
efficiency. Earlier this year, the Energy Department awarded the
first $8 billion from the program to Ford Motor Co. (F), Nissan
Motor Co. Ltd. (NSANY) and Tesla Motors Inc. to develop plug-in
electric vehicles in the U.S.
But unlike those initial awards, which are expected to go toward
cars with the potential for broad appeal, about $169 million of the
Fisker grant will go toward engineering of what the company bills
as "the world's first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle."
That vehicle, the Karma, is a sports sedan that will travel 50
miles on electrical power and for an additional 250 miles on a
2.0-liter gasoline engine before requiring refueling. The vehicle
will be assembled in Finland, using mostly U.S. auto parts.
Fisker spokesman Russell Datz said the Karma would initially be
"high-end" but that the company counted on the price going down as
sales increased and technology progressed. He pointed out that the
Karma would be eligible for a government rebate for hybrids,
bringing the actual cost down to just over $80,000.
"It's new. We haven't yet been able to leverage economy of
scale, but that's what the DOE [loans] will help us to do," Datz
said.
The company hopes to sell 15,000 Karmas next year.
The balance of the Energy Department loans will help finance
Fisker's Project NINA, an effort toward a plug-in hybrid that would
cost $39,900, after the government rebate, when it hits showrooms
as early as 2012. Production would take place in a to-be-determined
facility in the U.S., Datz said, with 75,000 to 100,000 of the
vehicles made in the first year.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement that the Fisker
award would create or save 5,000 jobs for U.S. parts suppliers and
"thousands more" to carry out the NINA project while spurring
technology to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
In June, the Energy Department said it would give Ford $5.9
billion from the loan program. Ford officials have said the auto
maker is interested in using the loans to help it retool some of
its North American truck and sport-utility vehicle plants so they
can make small cars.
Nissan received approval of a $1.6 billion loan that is expected
to help the Japanese company upgrade its Smyrna, Tenn., assembly
plant to make electric cars, and build a new facility for battery
production for these vehicles.
Tesla was awarded $465 million in loans to finance production of
an electric-powered family sedan and make electric-vehicle
components.
-By Josh Mitchell and Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires;
202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com