Musk Wants To Repay DOE's Tesla Loan By Tomorrow

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Loans from the Department of Energy seemed to be a great idea at the time, now they are a millstone one wants to get rid of.

“Given govt loan repayment this week (prob Wed), Supercharger update will be next week. Work continuing independent of announcement ,” tweeted Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk today, right after other important announcements, such as “Petting zoo left a chicken behind at the park. Now we have a pet chicken.”

The tweet is a bit cryptic, so a Tesla spokeswoman had to tell Reuters that “Musk was referring to the full repayment of the DOE loan.” Last week, Tesla said it would use $452.4 million from a bond and stock offering to repay the balance of the loan with interest.

(In the video above – from March – you learn a little bit a about gaining – or losing – money from those tweets.)

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • 7402 7402 on May 21, 2013

    I see several Model S Teslas in daily use. I still see a couple of the Tesla roadsters on the road now and then. They are all good looking, powerful, well-made cars. Most of the early adopters (willing victims) love them. It's way too early to give up on Tesla.

  • Wumpus Wumpus on May 21, 2013

    So does the best and brightest actually think Musk intends to do this? Government loans may be toxic, but there is a huge overlap between those who hate government loans and those who hate anything as "green" as electric cars. I still maintain it's a gimick that will include conditions to guarantee he will "only" have to pay twice as fast as the contract. I remain impressed if Tessla has that type of capital anyway.

    • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on May 21, 2013

      I'm not sure Tesla has the capital, but Musk probably still does. Remember, he's going to take his dealer network fight national, so it may help his case to show he's no longer tied to any government money.

  • Redseca2 Redseca2 on May 21, 2013

    All I know is: 1. In San Francisco I see them everyday. More common than that other american luxury car, Cadillac. 2. My Tesla stock has tripled.

    • See 1 previous
    • Redav Redav on May 22, 2013

      @mkirk Re stock price: One can always sell a portion of their holdings to cover their initial investment so that they don't 'lose their shirt,' even if it subsequently crashes. E.g., if a stock triples, sell 1/3 of your stock. Then you have all your capital investment returned as cash, and everything else the stock does is profit, even if it crashes to half your initial purchase price.

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on May 22, 2013

    Indeed, Tesla paid their loan back in full today - 9 years early. BTW, I saw my first Model S in the Pittsburgh area today, which brings to exactly 3 the number of EVs I've seen around here. The count includes an i-MiEV and the Leaf I drive. Still lonely.

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