Photo credit: Rivian
Rivian revealed this week that it will open its second major plant in the state of Georgia, adding to its Normal, Illinois, factory. The EV maker indicated that the plant would be located in Morgan and Walton counties, just east of Atlanta, and that it would employ over 7500 workers, with the automaker planning to invest $5 billion in the site.
Rivian says that the Georgia plant will be capable of producing up to 400,000 vehicles a year once it's ramped up, with the automaker planning to begin construction next summer.
The EV maker says the 2000-acre site will be carbon-conscious, and will feature plenty of natural space, as in the case of its Illinois plant.
Ahead of the start of construction in 2022 the automaker plans to hold town hall events near the manufacturing site, enabling local residents to learn about the company, with Rivian also planning to develop workforce training programs in the area.
“We're happy to partner with Georgia on our new manufacturing site, which will build our next generation of products that are important for scaling our business,” said Rivian Chief People Officer Helen Russell. “Our work together is driven by a compelling purpose and rooted in building a highly collaborative environment that creates a true sense of belonging. We're excited for Georgians to bring their creativity and ideas to Rivian. We're confident that, alongside Illinois, Georgia is the place for Rivian to continue to scale and thrive.”
Photo credit: Rivian
The choice of the state of Georgia, and the counties east of Atlanta, are not entirely surprising given the influx of high tech jobs into the area over the past decade, and the locations of a number of automotive suppliers and automaker assembly plants in the region. The south, including the Atlantic coast states, have seen a boom in auto industry plant building over the past 25 years, with Polestar being among the most recent additions to the neighborhood, announcing plans to begin EV assembly in South Carolina in 2022 at an existing Volvo site.
The location should also be far enough away from Atlanta itself to avoid the serious suburban traffic, as Atlanta has been expanding faster than many other cities over the past two decades, forcing the local infrastructure to creak under the rapid expansion.
Despite the ambitious plans, including a 623,000-square-foot expansion at the Normal plant that will add 800-1000 jobs by the second quarter of next year, Rivian is now entering a phase where far more automakers are offering EVs or are about to do so, compared to five years ago.
Rivian is targeting a very specific niche of luxury-priced pickups and SUVs, aiming to become more of a boutique EV maker rather than a volume competitor to the likes of Volkswagen, even as it targets a 400,000 annual production capacity at the plant, seeking to produce about about two-thirds as many vehicles annually at the plant as Volvo did worldwide in 2020.
That level of demand for Rivian models as well as the accompanying market share has yet to materialize, especially in a market that will see electric pickups from Ford and GM arrive in a matter of months, in addition to a bumper crop of electric SUVs.
Hopefully, Rivian's long-term plans to attract new buyers and gain market share will stay on track as most major automakers launch EVs in the coming years.
Photo credit: Hearst Owned
Keyword: Here’s Where Rivian Will Build Its Second US Plant