The Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program of the US Department of Energy has given Rivian a conditional loan of $6.6 billion. With this money, Rivian will be able to finish building a factory in Georgia that was earlier announced. Rivian says that the first part of development should be finished in 2028, which will increase production to 200,000 vehicles per year. A second phase will increase production to 400,000 vehicles per year. Rivian probably has a better credit score than you do. I don’t mean to brag. The US Department of Energy recently gave the California-based company that makes electric cars tentative approval for a $6.6 billion loan. The loan comes from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program at the DOE, which was set up by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. It would be possible for the company to finish building a factory in Georgia that they had already planned with a huge amount of money. The announcement of the new factory came in late 2021. It is expected to add 400,000 cars per year and 7,500 jobs by 2030. The company thought that the project would start making things in 2024 and cost $5 billion. Rivian had to put off the project and change his plans for the future R2 SUV because he needed more money. The company now wants to split the job into two parts and finish them both. The first part of making cars is set to start in 2028, which will increase Rivian’s annual production capacity to 200,000 cars. It needs to be clarified when the second part of the development will be finished, but the company said it will make an extra 200,000 vehicles. Rivian’s next-generation mid-size platform will be in the new building. It will be able to fit the R2 compact car and the even smaller R3. Making things will also get bigger. Rivian wants to offer both types as cheaper alternatives to its top-of-the-line R1 devices, but the company has yet to say much about the details. This comes after Rivian and Volkswagen announced they would be working together in a new business, with Volkswagen investing $5.8 billion. The company has said that they might switch to EV hardware, like battery modules, in the future, but for now, the joint business will focus on making software for vehicles.
