Fisker Automotive Moves East

Fisker Automotive will be building a snazzy and expensive luxury sports car in Finland, but the $500-plus million it recently gathered in Department of Energy loans will evidently be put to use in ... Delaware! That’s because Fisker is looking to sign a deal to take over an idled General Motors (MTLQQ) plant that formerly assembled Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky roadsters. Fisker plans to use the facilities to build its next plug-in hybrid model, a sedan codenamed Nina.

What’s good here is that old auto manufacturing is being used to make new cars. What’s curious is that Fisker, which is based in Irvine, Calif., decided to locate its U.S. manufacturing in Delaware, while most of the electric-car startups are setting up shop either in the West or in Michigan. So now the First State will have a piece of electric-car revolution. Does this presage some kind of East Coast answer to Silicon Valley-ification of EVs? Well, Fisker isn’t alone. Bannon Automotive just announced plans to build its version of an Indian EV, the Reva NXR, in Syracuse, N.Y.

UPDATE: No word on whether Fisker will be using those DoE funds to buy the GM plant (although presumably some money will be used for retooling). Which would be interesting, as GM is more than 60 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury.