Rivian is receiving a $6.6B conditional federal loan to build the Georgia factory
Rivian said late Monday it received a conditional commitment for a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy, funds that will help the EV maker restart construction of a major factory in Georgia.
The funds will come from the DOE’s Loan Programs Office Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Rivian said it expects to begin operations at the Georgia plant in 2028 – four years later than originally planned. The industry will employ 7,500 people by the end of 2030, a figure tied to a package of incentives approved several years ago by the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Rivian announced in December 2021 plans to build a second factory east of Atlanta that the company said would double the annual production capacity of its facility in Normal, Illinois, and cost an estimated $5 billion to build. Meanwhile, Rivian said the Georgia plant will have a targeted annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year and will begin production of next-generation EVs in 2024. The company received a package of incentives of $ 1.5 billion to build a factory in Georgia, according to documents. in the Ministry of Economic Development of the country.
Faced with a cash crunch, Rivian temporarily halted construction of the factory and changed plans to build the next-generation R2 mid-size SUV there. Instead, Rivian announced in March 2024 during R2 that the new EV will be produced at its factory in General, Illinois. That change was expected to save the company $2.25 billion.
A few months later, Rivian was awarded $827 million in incentives from the state of Illinois to support the development of its R2 in the General Industry.
The loan program has financed many companies in recent years for EV-related projects, including $465 million to Tesla in 2009, a conditional commitment of $9.2 billion in June to support Ford’s joint venture with SK to finance two battery plants in the United States. States, and a $2 billion loan to help battery and startup Redwood Materials finance the growth and expansion of its Nevada headquarters.
