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 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 production capacity of its plant in Normal, Illinois and cost about $5 million to build. At the time, Rivian said the Georgia plant would have a target production capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year and start production in 2024. The company received a package of incentives of $ 1.5 billion to build a factory in Georgia, according to documents from the Ministry of Economy of the country. Development.

Faced with a financial crisis, Rivian temporarily suspended construction of the factory and changed plans to build the next-generation R2 car there. Instead, Rivian announced in March 2024 during the R2 reveal that the new EV will be produced at its plant in Normal, Illinois. That change will 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 federal loan program has supported several companies in recent years for EV-related projects, including a $9.2 billion conditional commitment in June to support a joint venture between Ford and SK to finance two battery factories in the United States.