Rivian finalizes $6.6B loan for its Georgia factory

Rivian and the Department of Energy have finalized a $6.6 billion loan announced in November with just a few days left until Donald Trump’s inauguration. The company will use the loan to help build out its planned factory in Georgia, east of Atlanta, with construction beginning in 2026. The first R2 SUVs are scheduled to come off the line in 2028.

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

Rivian’s loan drew criticism from Vivek Ramaswamy, who is supposed to be co-leading the so-called “department of government efficiency” with Elon Musk after Trump takes office. Ramaswamy said he’d look to claw back the loan, though it is unclear how he would try that, and neither he nor Musk have explained exactly how they play to structure and operate their new effort.

The loan comes in two tranches, which Rivian says it will use to fund the two stages of buildout it’s planning in Georgia. Rivian can 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 towards eliminating interest on the loan.)

Rivian has 52 months to start drawing money from the agreement. It has also made a number of promises to the DOE that it must satisfy to access the funds. The company has to sell at least a certain number of the upcoming R2 SUVs 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 hatchback.

Rivian first announced plans for the Georgia factory in December 2021, just a few weeks after the company’s blockbuster IPO. It originally claimed that it would start production at the yet-to-be-built facility in 2024. But last year, in a bid to cut costs, Rivian paused construction on the factory 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.