The head of the U.S. Energy Department’s $25 billion program to make loans for fuel-saving technologies says it expects to make its first loans in more than three years.
“We are very happy with the whole relaunch,” Peter W. Davidson, executive director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, said Tuesday. “We’ve been very encouraged since then about what’s going on, so we expect to make a couple announcements … certainly this year.”
He declined to name what companies might be getting loans. But he said the program has been focusing on suppliers, and there’s been interest in making vehicles lighter in weight. “That’s one of the easiest ways to comply with CAFE standards,” he said.
Ford Motor Co. announced in January it would build its 2015 F-150 with a lightweight aluminum body, setting off a shockwave. Last week, Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne said the company is considering an aluminum-bodied Jeep Wrangler.