Rivian, the maker of the R1S SUV, R1T pickup, and Electric Commercial Van (ECV), got the final approval for its second EV plant from Georgia officials, two years after the facility was announced.
Construction on the $5 billion factory east of Atlanta was supposed to begin in the summer of 2022, but a legal battle around some clauses of the hefty $1.5 billion incentive package from the state of Georgia delayed the company’s plans to start building its second manufacturing facility to next year.
This summer, the Georgia Supreme Court cleared Rivian in the case brought against it, and now state officials granted final approval for the project to come to reality, according to WSB-TV.
As per the source, the maker of the all-electric R1S SUV closed a deal with the state of Georgia that stipulates it has long-term rights for the land on which the Stanton Springs North project will be built. Officials said Rivian had closed on bonds and the execution of a 50-year rental agreement for the upcoming plant.
“It’s a great day in Georgia as we close and issue the bonds for the Rivian project. Renting the site to Rivian is the next step in delivering this generational opportunity, and Georgians in Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton counties,” the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton counties, and the Georgia Department of Economic Development said in a joint statement, as reported by WSB-TV.
The Stanton Springs North facility east of Atlanta will be Rivian’s second electric vehicle factory after its Normal, Illinois plant that currently manufactures all the vehicles in its portfolio.
In Georgia, Rivian will manufacture its R2-based EVs which are slated to be smaller and more affordable than the currently available R1S and R1T. Currently, both of Rivian’s passenger vehicles start at over $70,000, while the upcoming R2 EVs are expected to have an MSRP of around $40,000 while being comparable in size with a combustion-powered Ford Bronco.
Assembly of the R2 vehicles should start in 2026 after the Georgia complex goes online. When fully operational, Rivian’s second plant will have an output of 400,000 vehicles per year and will employ 7,500 people by 2028. It will also create roughly 8,000 indirect jobs.
Rivian says that the upper pad of the site is 95 percent graded and is nearly ready for construction to begin, with a formal groundbreaking set for early 2024.
