Washington, D.C. – Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors will receive a US$465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to construct plants to produce its Model S electric sedan.

The company intends to build a manufacturing facility in southern California for the Model S, and a powertrain manufacturing plant in Palo Alto, California that will assemble electric vehicle battery packs, electric motors, and related vehicle control equipment both for Tesla’s vehicles and for sale to other automobile manufacturers.

The agreement was negotiated and signed by the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, which supports the development of innovative, advanced vehicle technologies to create clean energy jobs and help reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Volume production of the Model S is planned to begin in 2012, with a target production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2013. Tesla said the car and powertrain plants are expected to create over 1,600 jobs.

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