Lost in all the talk about the government's efforts to retool the auto industry has been some much-needed federal help for a different kind of car company.

The Department of Energy's Advanced Auto Loan program is giving loans and incentive programs to help car companies finance the next generation of cleaner vehicles. One such company is Tesla Motors, which is expecting a $350 million cash infusion from the program.

Tesla, which produces electric vehicles with high-performance batteries, says it will use the money to finance an all-electric four-door sedan and keep the company on track for production in 2011. The DOE program's other grants and direct loans will help build electric-car manufacturing plants and make batteries and other components for electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Zap, another company that specializes in electric vehicles, says the DOE's program will help build a production plant expected to bring 4,000 new jobs.

The DOE's loan program is helping smaller car companies on the vanguard of that trend.