Energy loses $139M on loan to electric car maker

The Energy Department says it will lose $139 million on a loan to struggling electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc.

The government sold the loan for $25 million Friday to Hybrid Technology LLC, a holding company that plans to keep the California carmaker operating.

The $139 million loss is the largest in the Obama administration's green energy loan program since the 2011 failure of solar panel maker Solyndra. The government lost $528 million in the Solyndra collapse, triggering sharp Republican criticism.

The Energy Department awarded Fisker a half-billion loan guarantee in 2009, but suspended it in 2011, after Fisker failed to meet a series of federal benchmarks. Fisker had received $192 million before the loan was frozen.

The Energy Department says it had recouped about $28 million before Friday's sale.