The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) has unrestricted loan authority to support the manufacture of eligible light-duty vehicles and qualifying components under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM), authorized by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

What value can LPO bring as a lender to my project? ATVM is one of three distinct loan programs administered by LPO, but all can provide a similar value to borrowers:

• Access to Debt Capital: Through ATVM, LPO can provide access to debt capital that is priced at U.S. Treasury Rates for auto manufacturing projects in the United States.
• Flexible, Custom Financing: LPO can provide financing that meets the specific needs of individual borrowers. LPO has experience with corporate, structured corporate, and limited recourse project finance loans. Additionally, LPO has capacity to finance large projects as a sole lender or to fill gaps in financing as part of a group of lenders.
• Committed Partnership: Lenders often prefer to engage with a project when the deal is fully formed; however, LPO encourages early engagement during project development. LPO can take the time to dive deep and understand the project and its technology. And after loan closing, LPO remains a valuable partner to borrowers throughout the entire lifetime of a project.
• Specialized Experience: LPO maintains an in-house team of financial, technical, legal, and environmental experts that has expertise with first-of-kind projects and a variety of deal structures. To date, LPO has provided more than $30 billion in debt financing.

Is my project eligible? A project must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for an ATVM loan:

• Manufacture eligible vehicles or components that are used in eligible vehicles. Advanced technology vehicles are defined as light-duty vehicles that meet or exceed a 25% improvement in fuel efficiency beyond a 2005 model year base-line of comparable vehicles; and/or ultra-efficient vehicles which achieve a fuel efficiency of 75 miles per gallon or equivalent using alternative fuels.
• Build new facilities; reequip, modernize, or expand existing facilities; and/or for engineering integration performed in the United States related to the manufacturing of eligible vehicles or components.
• Be located in the United States. Foreign ownership or sponsorship of the projects is permissible as long as the project is located in one of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory.
• Provide a reasonable prospect of repayment.
• In addition, an applicant must demonstrate that it has sufficient funds to carry out the project and is not dependent on other federal support as described in the applicable federal regulations.
• Applicants must also meet all applicable eligibility requirements set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Interim Final Rule, as amended and corrected, Interpretive Rule, and Technical Support Document regarding determination and calculation methods for “substantially similar attributes” under the ATVM program.

Eligibility of Electric and Alternative Fuel Vehicle Charging Infrastructure The manufacturing of infrastructure, including associated hardware and software, for alternative vehicle fuels such as electricity, hydrogen, liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and biofuels, may be eligible under the ATVM loan program. The deployment of such infrastructure may be eligible under LPO’s Title 17 Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program.

What kind of financial terms can LPO provide? LPO can provide flexible, custom financing to meet specific needs of individual borrowers. LPO offers senior, secured debt and can serve as sole lender, or can co-lend with other financial institutions and provide to bank syndicates flexible debt capacity that can be upsized or downsized depending on syndication strategy. LPO has experience with a range of borrowers deal structures, including corporate, structured corporate or limited recourse project financings.

Interest Rate The interest rate for ATVM loans is the applicable U.S. Treasury rate for the term of the loan with no credit spread.