Auto Trends

Originally uploaded by EYASU.SOLOMON

It’s always good to keep tabs on where your hard earned tax dollars are going. The Department of Energy has announced its first round of fuel efficient loan winners, and neither Chrysler nor GM were on the list for this round. Here is the lowdown:

This first round of aid adds up to $8 Billion, which is about one-third of the set aside $25 billion for the re-bolstering of the automakers here in the US. This months big winner is Ford Motor Company, who has secured $5.9 billion to retool and update their facilities to produce more hybrids and electric vehicles for the coming future.

Ford and Nissan
Ford plans on restructuring two truck plants with the money to produce smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles, one of which has already been announced as a battery-powered Focus. There are a number of other hybrids on their plate as well. We can expect to see these vehicles begin to roll off the Ford assembly line as early as 2011.

In second place is Nissan Motor Company. They will be getting $1.6 billion to build a new lithium-ion battery plant, plus modify their existing Tennessee plant to boost production of their electric vehicles. They currently have plans for a new electric vehicle to be produced here in the states, but they have yet to give it a name.

The new plug-in is actually being prepared in Japan at the moment and will be shipped over to begin production as soon as it is ready. Nissan has said that it will have a 100 mile radius between each charge.

Tesla Motors and ???
In last place but certainly not least, is the public favorite, Tesla Motors. Tesla will be receiving $465 million to go towards the production facility of their slightly more affordable Tesla S sedan that was unveiled a few months ago. The Tesla S is believed to have a range of 300 miles between charges, but it is also going to cost a cool $50,000 to put one in your driveway… and that’s after the $7,500 tax credit.

There are still more rounds to go in the coming months, so both GM and Chrysler have not been left out completely. Chrysler is currently involved in talks with the government about future “green” loans, while GM, whose Volt has been a favorite among the media this year, has to wait until they settle out of bankruptcy.

Round and round she goes… whose next to get those government loans, nobody knows!