The U.S. Energy Department on Tuesday announced $8 billion in loans to Ford, Nissan and Tesla to spur development of more fuel efficient vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will get $5.9 billion to transform factories across the country to make more fuel efficient vehicles. Nissan Motor Co. got $1.6 billion to retool its factory in Smyrna, Tenn. Tesla Motors Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., got $465 million to manufacture electric vehicles.

“By supporting key technologies and sound business plans, we can jump-start the production of fuel efficient vehicles in America,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, in a statement. “These investments will come back to our country many times over – by creating new jobs, reducing our dependence on oil, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Advanced Vehicle Technology Program is part of the $789 billion economic stimulus package the federal government passed in January.

Today we received the Tesla Model S sequence number for production and delivery.

Thank you for your Model S reservation. The world’s first all-electric family sedan has attracted worldwide attention and has clearly accelerated the electrification of the global auto industry. We’re certain this will be a superlative vehicle that exceeds your expectations for utility, performance and efficiency.

Many customers have been eager to know their sequence in the Model S reservation list. We’re happy to be able to provide that information now.

Your sequence number is X XXX

The sequence number consists of two parts: alphabetical and a numerical designation. We are maintaining three lists that determine production sequencing:

- Signature Edition: your sequence number is prefaced with the letters SIG. Signature Edition is our special edition inaugural production run, and will be limited to 1,000 vehicles.
- Roadster preferential list: your sequence number is prefaced with the letter R. These positions will be at the front of our regular production run, and are designed to thank our Roadster owners for their contribution in making Model S possible. Each Roadster we sell puts us one step closer to developing Model S! You have received Roadster preferential positioning if you are a Roadster owner or received a preferential invitation (friends and family) from one of our existing Roadster owners.
- After our Roadster preferential positions, we begin our standard production run, which is denoted by a P indicator.

Your sequence number may not be identical to your vehicle identification number, or VIN. These numbers are designed to keep you apprised of your position, but the actual VIN will not be set until time of production.

We invite you to login to the Tesla Motors Owner’s Area - an interactive community for our Roadster and Model S customers.
If you do not already have access to the Owner’s Area, you will receive an invite with instructions for logging in.

Thanks,

Elon Musk
Tesla Motors CEO and Product Architect

On May 12, 2009 Tesla Motors announced that they have surpassed 1,000 reservations for the Model S. Today we received the following email:

Greetings from Tesla Motors! This is a quick update on the status of our insider web page and on your forthcoming Model S sequence numbers. Our Owner’s Area of the web site is undergoing development for the addition of Model S customers, therefore we will be sending out your login and sequence position in the next two weeks.

More news here is that Daimler has announced a 10% investment in our company. We at Tesla are thrilled about the potentials of this collaboration, and believe it to be a huge vote of confidence in our cutting edge drivetrain technology. We will benefit from Daimler’s extensive experience to deliver an expertly designed, beautiful, high quality vehicle!

We look forward to getting you your number and owner’s area access soon.

If you are interested in purchasing this amazing new car… you need to hurry! They are on a 1st come 1st serve basis for registrations. You’ll need to put $5,000 down to reserve the car which is full refundable except a 1% processing fee ($50).

On March 26th, Tesla Motors will unveil a street-drivable prototype of their new 4-door sedan, the Model S (code named “WhiteStar”). The event will be held at the Tesla Design Studio inside the SpaceX factory in Hawthorn, California. The Tesla Motor’s Blog states, “Our objective with the Model S was to create one of the most functional, intuitive and beautiful vehicles on the road.” The new electric vehicle will be built in the San Jose, California assembly plant.

The Tesla Model S should hit the road in 2011. It is designed as a high performance electric sedan in the same class as the BMW 5-Series. The Model S is expected to debut with a price range between $57,400-65,000 (plus it would be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit) and will have an expected range of 300 miles per charge. In terms of performance, expect a zero to 60 mph time of around 5.6 seconds with a top speed of 120 mph. It is rumored to have 4G (the next version of today’s 3G) cellular connectivity allowing users to access the internet, make phone calls and listen to streaming internet radio.

The Department of Energy is in the process of approving a $25 Billion fund for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program. The Obama administration has made it a top priority to get this cash to help secure jobs. Tesla Motors will likely get their fair share of this loan since it has actually build and sold an electric card, the Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motro’s Blog states, “[DoE informed them that] they may disburse funds from our $350M Model S loan application within four to five months.” The $350 million represents 1.5% of the total $25 billion in funds from the DoE.

The Tesla Motors business plan involves the Tesla Roadster and Model S as a means to redefine the public’s perception of an electric vehicle. Starting at the high end, the Roadster cost of $109,000 and subsequently the Model S cost of $65,000, will help pave the way for developing a more affordable third vehicle code named “BlueStar”

As discussed Monday, the financial system continues to collapse.

While the Treasury’s $700 Billion Proposal is in a stalemate, the US government has siezed Washington Mutual.

For more information about the Treasury’s plan read the following link from the Wall Street Journal.

While the congress debates the details of the plan, hundreds of economist urge congress not to rush on a rescue plan. Read more at Bloomberg.com

Meanwhile, Washington Mutual has $307B assets and $188B in deposits. However the US government has closed the back and sold it’s assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion. From a financial standpoint, this just doesn’t make sense… JPM has recieved two deals of a life time in one year! There is definitely something strange about this deal.

The Office of Thrift Supervision said, “With insufficient liquidity to meet its obligations, WaMu was in an unsafe and unsound condition to transact business.” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the bailout happened on Thursday night because of media leaks, and to calm customers. Usually, the FDIC takes control of failed institutions on Friday nights, giving it the weekend to go through the books and enable them to reopen smoothly the following Monday.

Read more about WaMu’s story, the largest U.S. bank failure in history!

How will anyone ever want to buy financial stock if the government can seize them at a moment’s notice when the markets are closed. The only people who lose here are the private investors!

Investors Flee, Funds Freeze

Talking about the financial sector, it is interesting to note the XLF. This is the financial ETF which is back to the same level it was in June ~$22 despite major changes with AIG, C, FRE, FNM, and LEH. AIG was a 7% holding in this ETF, Citigroup another major component, and FRE, FNM & LEH are basically worthless… so it is a surprise. That the XLF is up to these levels!

We need to hold ~$22 this week in this sector to really see any turn around to bring investors back to the market.