Tesla Motors received $465 million from the U.S. Department of Energy on June 23, 2009 as part of $8 billion in loans to develop fuel-efficient vehicles in the United States. Ford will receive $5.9 billion in loans through 2011 and will use them to develop and apply new technologies to standard gasoline engines and to develop electric vehicles. Nissan will receive $1.6 billion in loans to help it expand its Smyrna, Tenn. plant to make lithium-ion batteries and install them in their all-new electric car starting in 2012.

Tesla Motors, an electric-car company in California that manufactures a high-end car, will use some of $465 million in loans to build a plant in Southern California to make its new Model S sedan. The rest will be used later for a plant in Northern California to make battery packs and electric drive-trains to be used in other carmakers' vehicles.

The money will help the company build a factory to produce the Tesla's next-generation sedan, the Model S and manufacture drive train technology. The sedan will sell for around $45,000 after a $7,500 tax credit from the government and is about half the price of its first production vehicle, the high-end Tesla Roadster.

Tesla had struggled to raise money this past year as banks essentially stopped lending amid the credit crisis and recession. Tesla Chairman Elon Musk, pretty much financed the company with his own money through the beginning of the year. Tesla then signed a deal with Daimler AG, which took a 10 percent stake in the company in May 2009. The Department of Energy had indicated that strategic partnerships with credit-worthy companies would be a major advantage as it evaluated which companies it would award loan guarantees.

"By supporting key technologies and sound business plans, we can jumpstart the production of fuel efficient vehicles in America," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "These investments will come back to our country many times over - by creating new jobs, reducing our dependence on oil, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions."

The Advanced Vehicle Technology Program is part of the $789 billion economic stimulus package the federal government passed in January 2009.

Tesla Motors will open seven regional sales and service centers in 2009, establishing a coast-to-coast network in North America and a solid retail footprint in Europe.

It will open showrooms in New York, Seattle and Chicago in late June 2009, followed by Miami. Tesla already has stores in Northern and Southern California, which opened in 2008.

John Laub is the Chairman of the Phoenix CEO-CFO Group.

1. "U.S. Lends $8B to Ford, Nissan, Tesla for Energy-Efficient Cars. Tesla Wants Loans to Help Build an Assembly Plant to Build its Model S Four-Door Sedan." Sharon Silke Carty. USA Today. June 23, 2009.

2. "Tesla Gets Long-Awaited Government Loan." Lindsay Riddell. Pacific Business News (Honolulu). June 24, 2009.

3. "Tesla Motors to Open Seven Sales & Service Centers This Summer. Prospective Customers Can Test-Drive Electric Sports Cars in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Miami, London, Monaco and Munich." Tesla Motors Press Release. June 4, 2009.