- Rivian postpones, but confirms Georgia plant thanks to fresh loan money
- Planned for assembly of new R2 and R3 product lines
- Will supplement Rivian’s existing Illinois facility
- How will new Trump era impact plans?
Rivian on Monday announced a conditional commitment from the federal government for a loan of up to $6.6 billion under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program.
If finalized, the loan would help fund construction of Rivian’s second assembly plant in Stanton Springs North, near the town of Social Circle, Georgia, and less than an hour from downtown Atlanta, the automaker said in a press release. The Georgia plant was announced in 2021, with an initial target opening date of 2024, but Rivian has since paused construction. As a result, the opening was first pushed back to 2027, and now 2028.
Rivian R2
Rivian said it plans to build the plant in two phases, each with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles for a total capacity of 400,000 vehicles annually upon completion. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2028, and Rivian expects to create approximately 7,500 “operations jobs” in Georgia by 2030. That’s in addition to 2,000 construction jobs to build the plant.
The same release also noted that a DOE loan “would provide significant funding for for production of the company’s mid-size platform” underpinning the R2 electric SUV and R3 and R3X hatchbacks. Rivian earlier this year opted to start R2 production in 2026 at its current Illinois factory, with the R3 models following sometime after that, while keeping the Georgia plant on pause.
To finalize the loan, Rivian must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions, Reuters noted. That includes pledging to not actively oppose unionization efforts, although loan approval will not guarantee unionization at the plant, according to a report citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
Established in 2007 and funded in 2008 in its original form, the ATVM loan program has funded several significant projects. A loan to Tesla helped the automaker get production of the Model S underway, while Nissan used an ATVM loan to establish Leaf production in the U.S. The pace of loans, which can also go to other green-technology projects than EVs, has slowed considerably since then, and may stop completely with the incoming Trump administration.
