RIVIAN Automotive won preliminary approval for a US$6.6 billion federal loan that will help support the construction of its delayed Georgia electric vehicle (EV) plant.
The factory will produce Rivian’s midsize platform, which underpins the R2 sport utility vehicle and R3/R3X crossover. The facility will be built in two phases, each with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles, the automaker said on Monday (Nov 25). Plans to build the plant were halted earlier this year in a decision aimed at cutting costs.
The loan, which includes US$6 billion of principal and around US$600 million of capitalised interest, comes from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan programme, Rivian said. The company still needs to meet certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions to finalise the loan.
The conditional approval of the loan is the third piece of good news this month for Rivian, which has struggled to transition to mass production since going public in 2021. Earlier Monday, rival Tesla said it had reached a “conditional” settlement in its 2020 lawsuit against Rivian. And just under two weeks ago, Volkswagen raised its investment plans in Rivian by US$800 million, signalling its commitment to its US partner. The companies also named leaders for their multi-billion US dollar joint venture and showcased a prototype EV.
Still, Rivian’s shares are down 50 per cent this year, hit by slowing demand for pure-electric cars and concern President-elect Donald Trump plans to eliminate a key consumer tax credit aimed at boosting EV adoption.
In 2022, Rivian secured a US$1.5 billion package of state and local incentives – the biggest in Georgia’s history – to build the massive plant outside Atlanta. The company pledged at the time to create 7,500 jobs by the end of 2028, winning praise from local lawmakers. BLOOMBERG
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