Although the Detroit automakers were in front of Congress earlier this month asking for billions in Federal aid, they aren’t the only U.S. automakers in need of a cash infusion. California’s Tesla Motors – makers of the all-electric Roadster – has also put in a request with the U.S. government for a $350 million loan.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Tesla requested $350 million from the Department of Energy in order to stay on track with the company’s upcoming Model S sedan. Without the loan, the $57,499 electric sedan will likely be delayed by one or two years.
“We can’t move forward with that without a major amount of capital,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the Detroit Free Press. “If we don’t get any government funding, then what we need to do is we need to wait until the capital markets recover, which could be a year or two years from now.”
Tesla is seeking the $350 million from the $25 billion already set aside by the Energy Department for creating greener technologies. In addition to funding development of the Model S, some of the cash would be used to build a planned $250 million factory in California.
If Tesla can secure the government bucks, it plans to have its new factory producing 20,000 Model S sedans a year by 2011. If funding falls through, that date will likely be pushed back until at least 2013.
