Rivian to boost EV production at planned Georgia plant, shrinks DOE loan

Electric vehicle maker Rivian announced Thursday it amended its multibillion-dollar federal construction loan, a deal that will reduce its borrowing by $2 billion. But the EV maker says the change will allow the company to expand the scope of its Georgia factory’s first phase.

The California-based automaker and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing agreed to reduce a previously awarded $6.6 billion loan to $4.5 billion, Rivian said in a news release. The amended loan allows for the first phase of Rivian’s future plant an hour east of Atlanta to have an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles, a 50% increase from prior plans.

Until Thursday’s announcement, the project was slated to consist of two phases, each with a production capacity of 200,000. The amended schedule and site design increases the first phase’s capacity, allowing Rivian to ramp up its Georgia production efforts more quickly.

The construction timeline, however, has not changed. Rivian officials said vertical construction at the 2,000-acre site in southern Morgan and Walton counties will kick into gear this summer. The factory’s first phase is expected to open in late 2028, assembling the brand’s new midsize SUV model called R2. The company also plans to build robotaxis as part of a partnership with Uber.

“We’re very excited to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy to grow our manufacturing footprint in Georgia,” Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in the release.

“R2 dramatically expands our market opportunity,” Scaringe continued. “The thousands of dedicated people who will soon work in our Georgia plant will be instrumental to Rivian’s growth as we scale American manufacturing and work to ensure that the U.S. retains its leadership in innovation and technology.”

The Rivian project was the largest-ever jobs and investment deal in state history when it was announced by Gov. Brian Kemp in December 2021, surpassed only by the Hyundai Motor Group EV factory near Savannah. Rivian has pledged to invest $5 billion in the project, which will employ 7,500 workers.

But Hyundai opened first. Rivian paused the Georgia factory in March 2024 as a temporary cost-cutting measure and shifted initial production of R2 to its existing plant in Illinois. Despite the pause, Rivian said it remained committed to opening its Georgia factory, holding a groundbreaking ceremony with state officials in September.

The U.S. Department of Energy finalized the initial $6.6 billion construction loan with Rivian in early 2025, just as President Joe Biden prepared to exit the White House. Rivian had applied for the loan more than two years earlier, but it wasn’t approved until the waning months of Biden’s presidency among a wave of other clean energy-related loans.

The loan’s issuance faced criticism from some Republican leaders, raising questions about whether it could be clawed back, but Rivian officials emphasized that it was a done deal.

Manufacturing workers assemble electric vehicles at Rivian in Normal, Ill., on July 20, 2022. (Ron Johnson for the AJC)