Debate: Are Obama green-car loans really 'losers'?

Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Are the three automotive firms cited by Gov. Mitt Romney in the presidential debate really losers?

Romney chided President Obama with the allegation that green energy firms were rewarded with a $90-billion tax breaks. Three of them were automotive related. He cited plug-in car makers Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, and battery maker Ener1. The ultimate success of Tesla and Fisker is still up in the air, but Ener1 has filed for bankruptcy protection.

"You don't just pick the winners and losers," Romney told Obama. "You pick the losers."

Tesla, based outside San Francisco, has a $465 million federal loan to produce its Model S electric sedan and Model X crossover. It's a public company that is yet to report a quarterly profit, but is in full production mode now turning out vehicles. CEO Elon Musk said today that Tesla would make early payments on its loan.

Fisker, based in Anaheim, Calif., is producing a plug-in sedan called the Karma. It spent $169 million of its $528 million in federal loans before being cut off for not meeting its loan conditions. The Karma was designed in the U.S., but is made at a contract builder in Finland.

Ener1 filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Its EnerDel subsidiary had received a $118 million federal loan, blaming slack demand for the lithium-ion batteries it made for electric cars, ABC News reported.

Interestingly, Obama's bailout of General Motors and Chrysler never came up in the debate even through it has played a large role on the campaign trail.