Tesla, ' best car ever tested', looks set to repay US loan nine years early
Electric car firm Tesla , labelled a “loser” by Mitt Romney during the U.S. election, is giving President Barack Obama’s green-energy strategy its biggest win yet, Bloomberg reports today.
Tesla Model S: scored 99 out of 100 in tests
Hot on the heels of being declared this month "the best car it has ever tested"> by Consumer Reports, the Californian car maker is set to become the first recipient of a U.S. Energy Department vehicle loan to pay off its debt - nine years ahead of schedule.
Taxpayers will make at least $12 million on the $465 million lent.
Republican critics have said Obama shouldn’t have acted like a venture capitalist in picking green-energy companies to receive government loans and grants.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, said in a Twitter message that the company would “probably” repay the Energy Department loan as soon as today.
Last week, it disclosed an agreement with the Energy Department to fully repay the remaining $452.4 million balance from proceeds of a stock and debt offering.
After a road test dispute with a New York Times critic, Tesla has been on the receiving end of some good publicity.
Consumer Reports said the Tesla Model S (priced from $62,400 upwards) earned a score of 99 out of a possible 100 in the magazine's tests.
The score would have been higher but for the fact that the car does,( with a range of 200-250 miles) need to stop and recharge during extremely long-distance drives.
"If it could recharge in any gas station in three minutes, this car would score about 110," said Jake Fisher, head of auto testing for Consumer Reports. Fisher called the car's performance in the magazine's performance tests "off the charts."
Tesla also looks like it is actually beating the big dogs competing directly with it in the luxury car segment, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.
CNN Money said that in the first quarter of 2012 Tesla is way ahead of the three German luxury car makers in sales of a comparable vehicle:
Tesla Model S: 4,750
Audi A8: 1,462
BMW 7-Series: 2,338
Mercedes-Benz S Class: 3,077