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DOE gave them a $465 million loan to build out their Fremont factory during the height of the GFC: https://www.energy.gov/lpo/tesla#:~:text=In%20January%202010...

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They also have received various other grants, including ~$17 million for chargers.

adding context to the above comment:

> Tesla repaid its $465 million loan from the US Department of Energy (DoE) nine years early in 2013

Don't forget that a massive part of their income that allowed them to survive was selling carbon credits to the tune of billions of dollars, and that their cars have been massively discounted due to federal subsidies on EV cars (depending on your income level.... which btw doesn't apply to just them but makes a big difference).

I wouldn't qualify it as a subsidy. It was a credit that you take on your taxes. It's picking nits, sure, but subsidy sounds like the federal govt rolled up a truck full of money at EV car makers' factories.

The Federal government and state governments paying ~$10k to people who buy Teslas is the definition of a subsidy. People wrote $50k checks to Tesla and got $10k from the government for doing so.

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