We have blogged previously about Carbon Motors, the Indiana-based company that has been planning to build its own unique diesel-powered police car.
This week, the company was denied a Department of Energy loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, a program created under President George W. Bush and continued with President Barack Obama. It is intended to provide capital to the automotive industry for backing vehicles that meet higher mileage requirements and lessen the country's dependence on foreign oil.
Carbon Motors’ plans have been ambitious. Production of the E7 police vehicle was supposed to begin this year, and the company claims to have interest in the car from more than 500 law-enforcement agencies. But the denial of this loan will be damaging if not crippling to those plans.
