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Tesla pays back £309 million federal loan nine years early

Tesla Motors appears to be doing pretty well for itself. The electric car manufacturer has paid off its entire government loan of £309.4 million, according to reports. The money was returned to the US Department of Energy nine years earlier than expected.

Tesla's CEO says he hopes the company has done the government proud.
Tesla’s CEO says he hopes the company has done the government proud.

Tesla is reportedly the only company to have successfully repayed the loan. Other companies to have been granted DOE money include Ford Motor Company, which used the cash to upgrade its engine plants in Dearborn, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; and Lima, Ohio, and to upgrade its transmission plants in Livonia, Michigan; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and Sharonville, Ohio.

Nissan North America secured its loan with the aim of building the Nissan Leaf at its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Tesla’s chief executive offer and co-founder Elon Musk said: “I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs who worked hard to create the ATVM program, and particularly the American tax payer from whom these funds originate.

“I hope we did you proud.”

Unsuccessful applicants for the DOE loan include the Carbon Motors Corporation, and Aptera Motors, whose initial application was denied because its product was a three-wheeled vehicle. Bright Automotive, a startup company intent on creating a line of plug-in electric vehicles, filed an application in 2008 but went out of business in March 2012 after the DOE’s failure to respond to their requests.

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