Trump Budget Would Ax Loan Program Sought to Revive Lordstown Plant
- Electric Truck Maker Is Seeking $200 Million Loan for GM Plant
- Energy Department loans have been criticized by conservatives
The closed GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 2019.
Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would kill a loan program that an electric-truck company is counting on to revive an Ohio factory vacated last year by General Motors Co., which angered Trump.
The company, Lordstown Motors Corp., is seeking a $200 million loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. The Energy Department initiative doled out billions of dollars to help companies retool factories to build advanced electric vehicles, including a $465 million loan to Tesla Inc. for its Model S in 2010, which the company repaid in 2013, according to the department’s website.