Rivian To Restart Stalled Georgia Plant After Landing $6.6B Department of Energy Loan
The massive Rivian electric vehicle plant about an hour west of Atlanta has been recharged in the final months of the Biden administration with a $6.6B loan from the Department of Energy.
The DOE’s Loan Programs Office has conditionally approved a loan — $6B of which is principal and $592M of which would be capitalized interest — to Rivian Automotive to help complete its manufacturing facility that was put on indefinite pause earlier this year as the company attempted to shore up its finances due to sluggish sales.
The loan, which still needs to meet certain legal, financial and environmental conditions before getting final approval, will allow Rivian to start construction of its 9M SF facility on a 2,000-acre site spanning Morgan and Walton counties near Social Circle, Georgia.
Each phase of the project would eventually be able to produce 200,000 vehicles a year of various models, including the R2 midsize SUV and the R3/R3X midsize crossover. The first phase is set to begin production in 2028, with the second phase by 2030, and will create 7,500 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs, according to Rivian’s announcement.
The loan would be the first granted by the DOE under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for the production of a complete electric vehicle as opposed to just components, according to a DOE press release.
The loan would be secured by Rivian’s facility, dubbed Project Horizon, as well as its fixed assets and guarantees by the parent company and some of its subsidiaries, according to the release. As part of the deal, Rivian has agreed to hire at least a quarter of its new employees from the communities around Stanton Springs.
“This loan will help create thousands of new American jobs and further strengthen U.S. leadership in EV manufacturing and technology,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “This loan would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability.”
Rivian announced plans in 2021 to build a $5B factory at the Stanton Springs North site, part of a group of companies that targeted Georgia and the Southeast to build out large manufacturing projects for the EV industry.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp approved a $1.5B incentive package for Rivian — the largest in the state’s history — to help secure the 2,000-acre site off Interstate 20. But Scaringe announced in March that the automotive maker was shifting production to its existing Illinois plant to save more than $2.2B in costs, putting a halt on plans for the Georgia plant an hour outside of Atlanta.
The state made the incentives conditional that Rivian would complete 80% of its investment in the factory by 2028 and maintain those commitments from the end of 2030 to 2049. If it doesn’t, Georgia could claw back those incentives.
The future of the EV industry was clouded by President-elect Donald Trump's electoral victory — he has since reportedly targeted repeal of the $7,500 tax credit for U.S.-made new electric vehicles that President Joe Biden signed into law.
“We have and will continue to work with this new company in helping them achieve their goals and fulfilling their commitment of creating good-paying jobs for hardworking Georgians,” Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas said in an email to Bisnow. “Our conversations to bring their operations to the No. 1 state for business predates the current administration in Washington, and our shared vision to bring opportunity to Georgia will remain no matter who resides in the White House or what party controls Congress.”
