Another $42M of Our Tax Money Gone: Clean Energy Car Company Bites The Dust (March, dollars)

[LauraC]

"The Energy Department conceded Friday that the federal government will lose $42 million on a loan to a shuttered Michigan van manufacturer — part of the same program that provided a $529 million loan to an electric car maker that also has gone under. Vehicle Production Group (VPG), which made vans for the disabled, ceased operations in February and laid off 100 workers, two years after receiving a $50 million federal loan under the same clean-energy program that provided a $529 million loan to electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc., according to the Associated Press."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...an-michigan-c/

Did any of these guys NOT go under?

[MyronHarpoons]

Was this loan part of the bailout?

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by MyronHarpoons

Was this loan part of the bailout?

No. This was the one that promoted green energy projects like Solyndra.

VPG was awarded a $50 million loan in March 2011 from the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.

The News said the U.S. government will lose tens of millions of dollars on the Energy Department loan.


http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...#axzz2eCwF4hYm

[EdwardA]

You mean loaning businesses producing products that satisfy minimal existing demand, failed? Color me shock. Those bureaucrats man I tell you sharp as knives.

[wrench409]

The Energy Department is nothing more than the FHA/FNMA of the green movement.

And like the housing bubble, it has burst into nothingness. No product, no jobs, no accountability.

[HappyTexan]

If there were money to be made the venture capitalists would have been in that field years ago.

[Frank DeForrest]

Why would anyone think bureaucrats and politicians know where to allocate resources?

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Frank DeForrest

Why would anyone think bureaucrats and politicians know where to allocate resources?

They tend to throw money at ventures no one else will.
The government doesn't care because it's not their money.
They get a constant flow from us.

[dsjj251]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

They tend to throw money at ventures no one else will.
The government doesn't care because it's not their money.
They get a constant flow from us.

Government grants are the reason you even have the ability to be typing on this website. Arguing if a specific thing is worth investing in is one thing, but arguing against the process it self is just naive.

[Think4Yourself]

Originally Posted by LauraC

"The Energy Department conceded Friday that the federal government will lose $42 million on a loan to a shuttered Michigan van manufacturer — part of the same program that provided a $529 million loan to an electric car maker that also has gone under. Vehicle Production Group (VPG), which made vans for the disabled, ceased operations in February and laid off 100 workers, two years after receiving a $50 million federal loan under the same clean-energy program that provided a $529 million loan to electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc., according to the Associated Press."

Energy Department loses $42 million on loan to Michigan company VPG - Washington Times

Did any of these guys NOT go under?

Tesla made tons of money. Just look at its stock price.