American electric vehicle startup Rivian has received conditional approval for a loan of up to $6.6 billion from the government to increase its electric vehicle production capacity.
The Irvine-based startup says the contingent commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing Technology Program includes $6 billion in principal and approximately $600 million in capitalized interest.
Rivian said the funds will support the construction of an electric vehicle factory in Georgia and the production of more midsize vehicles.
The announcement follows Rivian’s recent $5.8 billion technology partnership with Volkswagen earlier this month.
The American company has spent more than $19 billion since it went public in 2021, with much of the investment focused on developing custom hardware and software. That investment has yet to pay off, in part because the company is producing too few vehicles — likely fewer than 50,000 this year — to turn a profit.
A new factory in Georgia could help increase production capacity. Rivian plans to build the facility in two phases, with each phase expected to produce up to 200,000 vehicles per year.
The first phase of the project is expected to start production in 2028 and create around 7,500 jobs by 2030.
The loan would help strengthen U.S. leadership in electric vehicle manufacturing and technology, Rivian Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe said.
It would also allow the company to “more aggressively expand its US manufacturing footprint for R2 and R3 vehicles at competitive prices that emphasize both capability and affordability,” he added.
Autor:
SEEbiz / Wall Street Journal
Foto:
Arhiva Autoblog.rs / Rivian
Source: autoblog.rs
