It would have been utilized earlier if the DOE hadn't suspended the $325M portion of the loan that was targeted to Atlantic engineering and production in Delaware. Fisker spent $40M on refurbishing the Delaware plant; some of the original wood flooring that was removed can be seen in the lobby area of Fisker's Anaheim HQ.
Hmm... I'm not so sure.
They got the plant back near the end of 2009. Due to Karma delays, I don't think Fisker was yet in a position to make use of it. They said they'd be producing "Ninas" there by 2012. Do you really think that would have happened, even if they got the full loan? They lost access to the rest of the DOE loan money because of missed milestones, e.g., they failed "to sell 11,000 Karmas at an average price of not less than $87,500 by Sept. 30, 2011."
I think they would have done better to get the plant after the Karma was out the door. This is all hypothetical anyhow, but as it currently stands that plant is an understandable annoyance for Delaware.
Also, money is fungible, but whatever they spent on that Boxwood Plant effectively came out of grants and loans from the state of Delaware and from parts of the DOE loan the did get. That gov't money was specifically for that purpose.