US loans Nissan $1.6 billion to improve fuel economy of vehicles

WASHINGTON: The US government will loan Japanese automaker Nissan $1.6 billion to invest in improving the fuel economy of its US-built vehicles, officials said on Tuesday.

With this loan, "Nissan expects to cut the costs of its batteries in half and ramp up production of 150,000 American-made competitively priced electric vehicles anually," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a press conference.