Governments for the most part can take long term(ish) views on things, whereas other investors might be more bullish about seeing a return a lot quicker, for better or for worse. Even traditional bank based investment wouldn't have worked, so it's unlikely something like Tesla would be able to get off the ground and get running.
If Tesla does succeed the US Government gets a nice feather in the cap as well, if it goes horrifyingly wrong then, well, there's already a couple of trillion in the hole, what's another half a billion between friends.
If Tesla does succeed the US Government gets a nice feather in the cap as well, if it goes horrifyingly wrong then, well, there's already a couple of trillion in the hole, what's another half a billion between friends.