Rivian finalizes $6.6B loan for its Georgia factory

There are Rivian and Energy Departments final A $6.6 billion loan was announced November Donald Trump’s inauguration is just days away. The company will use the loan to help build its planned factory in Georgia, east of Atlanta, with construction starting in 2026. The first R2 SUVs are scheduled to roll off the line in 2028.

The loan comes from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, part of DOE’s Office of Loan Programs. ATVM is best known as the program that provided a $465 million lifeline to Tesla in 2009.

Rivian’s loan drew criticism from Vivek Ramaswamy, who is believed to be co-leading the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” with Elon Musk after Trump took office. Ramaswami said He wants to repay the loan, though it’s unclear how he’ll try to do so, and neither he nor Musk have explained how they’ll go about structuring and managing their new effort.

The loan comes in two tranches, which Rivian said it will use to finance two phases of the buildout it plans in Georgia. Rivian may borrow up to $3.35 billion in the first tranche and up to $2.62 billion in the second tranche. (The remaining $600 million goes toward eliminating debt interest.)

You have 52 months to start withdrawing money from Rivian contract. It also made a number of commitments to the DOE that it must satisfy to access funding. The company needs to sell at least a certain number of the upcoming R2 SUV that will be built at its Normal, Illinois factory. (The exact number is redacted in the loan agreement.) It also has to hit certain product design milestones on the R2 and R3 hatchbacks.

Rivian first announced plans for a Georgia factory in December 2021, just weeks after the company’s blockbuster IPO. It originally claimed it would start production at the yet-to-be-built facility in 2024 But last year, to cut costs, Rivian paused factory construction and decided to build the R2 in Illinois instead. Armed with the DOE loan, Rivian now believes it can roll new vehicles off the line at the plant four years later than originally planned.