From Transport Evolved.
The Advanced Technology Vehicle Loans provided by the US government helped massively expand Nissan LEAF production, brought large scale EV battery manufacturing facilities to the US, has promised to help Rivian expand and was a huge part of what allowed Tesla to reach production.
Those loans might now be going away. We look at the history of the loans, what they achieved, and why they might be coming to an end.
And we promise there’s no pictures of Elon Musk or Trump.
We appreciate Plug In America’s generous rights clearance for their images, and urge you all to donate here: https://pluginamerica.org/?form=FUNLHRARVGD
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00:00 – Introduction
01:09 – The automakers didn’t want to build EVs
02:39 – Automakers claimed they couldn’t build them so…
04:18 – The Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program
07:07 – How does the loan program work?
09:49 – The ATVM loans are conditional
10:48 – Examples of ATVM loans
13:39 – What about the failures?
16:30 – So what is DOGE doing?
18:38 – What will be the impacts?
24:12 – Final thoughts
25:48 – Thanks and Credits
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References
https://web.archive.org/web/20230813071455/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/28/business/expecting-a-fizzle-gm-puts-electric-car-to-test.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/26/us/california-is-backing-off-mandate-for-electric-car.html
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/zero-emission-vehicle-program/about
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/zev2003/22004memo.pdf
https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/6/cosponsors
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/florida-republicans-immigrant-jobs-child-labor
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/energy-department-bet-on-fisker-automotive-ends-in-bankruptcy/ (This site has a degree of very subtle right wing bias…)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2025/elon-musk-business-government-contracts-funding/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/musk-works-slash-federal-spending-firms-received-billions/story?id=118589121
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-twitter-value-advertising-2025-3
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/29/musks-companies-got-billions-from-the-government-now-hes-pulling-up-the-ladder-behind-him
https://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-battery-swap-harris-ranch-20150310-story.html
https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/04/cost-of-doge-cuts-appear-to-wipe-out-most-of-agencys-reported-savings.html
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Script: Kate Walton-Elliott, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Presenter: Kate Walton-Elliott
Editor, Colorist: Kate Walton-Elliott
Art and Animation: Erin Carlie
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Music supplied through Artlist.io
© Transport Evolved LLC, 2025
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