Rivian said late Monday it had secured a conditional commitment from the Energy Department for a $6.6 billion loan. The funds will help the EV manufacturer resume construction of a large factory in Georgia.
The funds will come from DOE’s Office of Loan Programs Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Rivian said it expects the Georgia plant to begin operations in 2028, four years later than originally planned. The plant is expected to employ 7,500 people by the end of 2030, a figure tied to an incentive package approved by the Georgia Department of Economic Development several years ago.
Rivian announced plans to build a second plant east of Atlanta in December 2021. The company said it would double the annual production capacity of its plant in Normal, Illinois, and would cost about $5 billion to build. At the time, Rivian said its Georgia plant would begin producing next-generation EVs in 2024, with a target of producing 400,000 vehicles per year. The company signed a $1.5 billion incentive package to build a plant in Georgia, according to documents. State Department of Economic Development.
Facing a cash shortage, Rivian halted construction at the plant and changed its plans to build its next-generation R2 midsize SUV there. Instead, Rivian announced at the R2 reveal in March 2024 that the new EV would be produced at its Normal, Illinois plant. These changes were expected to save the company $2.25 billion.
A few months later, Rivian received $827 million in incentives from the state of Illinois to support construction of R2 at its Normal plant.
Federal loan programs have supported several companies for EV-related projects in recent years, including a conditional commitment of $9.2 billion last June to support Ford’s joint venture with SK to finance two battery plants in the U.S. .
