Rivian To Invest US$5 Billion In Second Manufacturing Plant In Georgia

Up-and-coming, US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker, Rivian Automotive (Rivian), announced plans for a second manufacturing facility east of Atlanta. The company said the plant will employ more than 7500 workers and will have a capacity of up to 400,000 vehicles per year. Construction is expected to commence in summer 2022 with production slated for 2024. “We’re happy to partner with Georgia on our new manufacturing site, which will build our next generation of products that are important for scaling our business,” said Rivian Chief People Officer Helen Russell. “Our work together is driven by a compelling purpose and rooted in building a highly collaborative environment that creates a true sense of belonging. We’re excited for Georgians to bring their creativity and ideas to Rivian. We’re confident that, alongside Illinois, Georgia is the place for Rivian to continue to scale and thrive.”

Rivian said that the Georgia facility will be a carbon-conscious campus but is yet to detail what exactly that means. It did, however, mention that the 2000-acre Georgia campus includes plenty of natural space and that Rivian will focus on community engagement and training programs in Morgan and Walton Counties.

Normal Plant Expansion

In addition to its Georgia plant, Rivian announced a 623,000-sq.ft. (57,879-m²) expansion to its existing Normal, Illinois, facility, bringing its total footprint to 4 million sq.ft. (371,612 m²). Rivian’s existing capacity at the Normal facility is 150,000 vehicles per year. The expansion should increase the capacity to 200,000 vehicles per year. Rivian said the Normal expansion will include added warehouse space and storage in addition to increasing production capabilities.

Lower-Than-Expected Deliveries

In its Q3 2021 earnings report on December 16, 2021, Rivian said that it had finally begun deliveries of its highly anticipated R1T electric pickup truck and its R1S electric seven-seater SUV. However, Rivian has only produced 652 vehicles as of December 15, 2021, and delivered 386 of them compared to expectations for 1200 vehicles produced. However, Rivian did say R1T reservations now exceed 71,000. For reference, R1T reservations were just 48,000 at the end of the third quarter. These reservations come on top of Amazon’s 100,000 preorders for Rivian’s electric delivery van.