Policy

US Vice President Joe Biden announced yesterday that California electric carmaker Fisker Automotive is to re-open a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware to produce plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Last month, Fisker received was awarded a $528.7 million loan from the Department of Energy to start development on two lines of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

A $359 million portion of that loan will now be devoted to reviving manufacturing at the GM Boxwood plant. By 2014, Fisker estimates that it will be building 75,000-100,000 mass-market plug-in hybrid sedans at the plant.

The plug-in hybrid sedans will be powered by a lithium-ion battery and a generator powered by an efficient gasoline engine. The combined range will be around 300 miles and the battery will be rechargable overnight.

“Thanks to a real commitment by this Administration, loans from the Department of Energy, the creativity of US companies and the tenacity of great state partners like Delaware – we’re on our way to helping America’s auto industry reclaim its top position in the global market,” said Vice President Biden.

For further information:
www.fiskerautomotive.com/

Related stories:
Electric carmaker Fisker receives $528 million government loan (28-Sept)
US Government loans Ford $5.9 billion to produce fuel efficient cars (18-Sept)
US Government loans $8 billion to Ford, Nissan and Tesla for advanced vehicles (25-Jun)