Thursday, March 25, 2010

V-Vehicle Rejected For Federal Loans

San Diego-based V-Vehicle Company, the stealthy alternative energy auto startup backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and T. Boone Pickens, said Wednesday that the Department of Energy has rejected the firm's bid for $321.1M in federal loans. According to V-Vehicle, the firm was notified yesterday that the funds from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program were not recommended for approval by the Program Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. Reasons for the rejection was not given. V-Vehicle had hoped to receive $79.9M for engineering integration, and $241.2M to retrofit a assembly plant in Monroe, Louisiana. In a statement, Frank Varasano, Founder and CEO of V-Vehicle, said the firm was "extremely surprised and disappointed by this decision", and had been "confident and optimistic" that the loan applications would be approved. As a result of the rejection, the firm says it is now in the process of paying back $6.2M in taxpayer funding from Louisiana, which were contingent on loan approval. V-Vehicle has raised over $85M in two rounds of funding.