DOE Touts Low-Rate Financing for Suppliers

The U.S. Dept. of Energy is again telling auto suppliers it has $16 billion in low-rate loans to grant for programs to develop or produce "green" vehicles.

On Wednesday DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz announced updates to make the program more attractive, starting with clarification that suppliers are eligible. Among the improvements: broader qualifications, plans for an online application Web site and a promise to process requests faster.

The funding has been available since Congress created the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program in 2007. The plan has lent nearly $10 billion to carmakers. But it has approved no new loans since 2011, and none to a supplier.

The program has been maligned for its complexity and extensive reporting requirements. It was suspended after sparking a political uproar over its funding of startup Fisker Automotive Inc. Moniz began signaling a revival for the program last summer.

The original program aimed to support development of vehicles that would be at least 25% more fuel efficient than a comparable 2005-vintage vehicle. DOE tells Automotive News that suppliers will now be able to qualify for a pro-rated loan even if some of the parts they develop for such vehicles end up in models that aren't so efficient.