Rivian’s Georgia Plant Gets A $6.6 Billion Lifeline Thanks To Taxpayers

The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has granted Rivian conditional commitment for a loan of up to $6.57 (£5.24 / €6.27) billion. The money is slated to be used for the development and construction of an electric vehicle plant in Stanton Springs North, Georgia.

The government said, if finalized, the loan will support construction of a 9 million square foot (836,127 square meters) facility that can make up to 400,000 vehicles annually. It will build the R2 and R3, which the Department of Energy optimistically called “mass-market” EVs. That’s a bit of a stretch as R2 pricing is expected to start around $45,000.

More: The 2026 Rivian R2 Looks Even Better Up Close

Nevertheless, the government said the funds should support up to 2,000 construction jobs and 7,500 operations jobs by 2030. Uncle Sam added the facility will enable Rivian to “reach production volumes that make its products more cost competitive and accelerate access to international markets.” They went on to claim that EVs made at the plant could result in an annual fuel consumption savings of approximately 146 million gallons (553 million liters) of gas.

For their part, Rivian said the project will be broken up into two phases and the first will result in production beginning in 2028. During this initial ramp up, the plant will have a capacity of 200,000 units annually.

CEO RJ Scaringe stated “This loan would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability.” He added “a robust ecosystem of U.S. companies developing and manufacturing EVs is critical for the U.S. to maintain its long-term leadership in transportation.”

The loan isn’t set in stone and there’s already speculation that the Trump administration might attempt to kill it. While that remains to be seen, Rivian previously tapped the brakes on the facility and announced the R2 would initially be built at their plant in Normal, Illinois. At the time, the automaker noted using their existing facility would enable the crossover to be launched sooner and would provide over $2.25 (£1.79 / €2.15) billion in savings.