Or they didn't make the decision to delay production till right before the meeting. It IS still possible the loan will come through any day and at that point, they could hit production this year. The reason for the delay is funding and that reason could be moot if funding comes through.
The ATVM program has been slow-ahead ever since they dropped a bundle on two failed projects. They have been licking their wounds for about three years. (Fisker was one of these; I forget the second). They are in no hurry to repeat the mistake and be shut down by an angry Congress.
Also, with gas prices down, some of the pressure to reduce our national oil consumption is eased (it shouldn't be; this is an underlying issue for all humanity, but long-sightedness isn't a characteristic of the voters OR the Congress). That reduces the sense of urgency to get an ATVM loan approved, or even to fund the program at all.
I am not privvy to the goings-on in the DOE or the ATVM program. It is
possible they might make a decision any day. But to hold this out as a reason to delay the search for additional funding, or to delay construction of the prototype vehicles, doesn't compute. ATVM, like God, moves in mysterious ways its wonders to perform. You and I can't count on it. Neither can Paul Elio.
Paul has been searching for capital all the while saying the funding is in place to build the 25 prototypes. This is double-speak, and it is not OK in my book, not now, not ever. I can see how it came to happen, but it does shatter faith when leaders have to backtrack.