Rivian Restarting Work On Its Georgia Factory, Emails Show

Rivian will resume prep-work connected its planned Georgia mill successful August and is still looking to break crushed early adjacent year, according to emails TechCrunch obtained done a nationalist records request.  

The restarted effort comes months aft nan Biden administration’s Department of Energy approved a $6.6 cardinal meant to money construction.

Rivian has invested much than $80 cardinal successful nan task arsenic of June 20, 2025, up from $41 cardinal successful July 2024, according to a advancement study submitted to nan section associated improvement authority included successful nan emails. The task has created 46 full-time jobs truthful far. Rivian will statesman installing “deep utilities” successful August, pinch “vertical construction” group to statesman successful nan first 4th of 2026, according to nan emails. 

The institution is besides reaching retired to existing suppliers to spot which ones mightiness want to co-locate adjacent nan Georgia factory, nan emails show. Rivian besides asked nan state’s economical improvement section for a database of suppliers already successful nan region that whitethorn beryllium capable to thief build nan R2 SUV and R3 hatchback astatine nan mill erstwhile it opens successful 2028.

Amid this push to restart nan project, Rivian’s laminitis and CEO RJ Scaringe met pinch nan state’s politician Brian Kemp astatine nan extremity of May. The company’s firm affairs head told nan Governor’s agency successful an email that nan gathering was a “top priority” for nan company.

Peebles Squire, a spokesperson for Rivian, said nan gathering betwixt Scaringe and nan Governor was a “regular check-in.” 

“We discussed our ongoing activity successful Georgia and gave wide task updates arsenic good arsenic discussed ways successful which we tin proceed to person a beardown business pinch nan state,” he wrote successful an email to TechCrunch. The Governor’s property caput did not respond to requests for comment.

Rivian first announced nan Georgia mill soon aft its IPO successful precocious 2021. The institution primitively planned to commencement building successful 2022 and person conveyance accumulation up and moving by 2024. It promised to put $5 cardinal successful nan installation and, successful May 2022, Rivian lined up $1.5 cardinal successful authorities incentives to thief make that happen.

The mill quickly faced section opposition. And nan task took a backmost spot arsenic Rivian worked astir proviso concatenation shortages during nan ramp-up of its R1T pickup motortruck and R1S SUV astatine its original mill successful Normal, Illinois.

Rivian yet pushed backmost nan timeline for nan Georgia task successful favour of expanding nan Normal factory, for which it nabbed $827 cardinal successful incentives from Illinois. The institution announced this hold successful 2024 erstwhile it showed disconnected nan R2 SUV and R3 hatchback for nan first time.

In precocious 2024, Rivian announced it had secured nan $6.6 cardinal indebtedness from nan Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. Specifically nan indebtedness would beryllium coming from nan Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, which is nan aforesaid effort that helped Tesla navigate nan Great Recession much than a decade ago. 

That indebtedness statement was finalized conscionable a fewer days earlier Donald Trump was sworn successful for his 2nd term, and by that constituent nan woody had already go a target of immoderate of nan group successful nan caller president’s orbit. Vivek Ramaswamy, who astatine 1 constituent was expected to co-lead Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, said he wanted to look into clawing backmost nan loan.

After Trump took office, his management froze each kinds of spending. Some of those freezes were reversed by little territory courts, while others person remained successful spot arsenic nan Supreme Court has mostly allowed nan president to run much freely.

In February, arsenic nan management was shotgun-blasting these spending freezes crossed nan government, Governor Kemp told a section news position he wasn’t judge of nan position of nan loan. 

(Squire, successful nan email, said Rivian continues to activity “with DOE and nan management to bring thousands of quality, bully paying jobs backmost to nan United States. Electric vehicles are a world strategical industry, and nan U.S. should support its activity domiciled successful caller technologies.”)

Just a fewer weeks later successful March, nan emails show, Rivian began coordinating pinch nan Governor’s unit for a face-to-face betwixt Kemp and Scaringe. Originally slated to return spot connected April 9, nan gathering had to beryllium rescheduled because nan Rivian CEO had a “personal conflict travel up.” 

Andrew Capezzuto, nan firm affairs head for Rivian, said nan gathering was “a apical priority” successful an apologetic email astir nan rescheduling.

As Capezzuto hashed retired a caller clip for Scaringe and Kemp to meet, he was besides successful regular interaction pinch Georgia’s economical improvement section (GCED), nan emails show. 

“[W]e are willing successful picking backmost up connected supplier conversations,” he told that squad connected April 8. 

“I judge a while backmost GDEcD had prepared an overview of existing suppliers wrong Georgia and nan greater South East region. Would it beryllium imaginable to particulate that database disconnected truthful that we tin spot what suppliers and parts are already available? We would for illustration to usage that database to measure nan existing supplier guidelines and find whether we tin leverage immoderate existing suppliers. That will past besides thief america find which suppliers we’d for illustration to see find [sic] successful Georgia to support nan SSN facility.”

In an email to TechCrunch, Squire said “Georgia and nan Southeast person a very beardown automotive supplier base. We want to leverage that guidelines to optimize logistics costs and reenforce a beardown proviso chain. It’s bully for jobs, regionally and nationally, and promotes American manufacturing and economical development.”

As Rivian ramps up that supplier activity, nan institution is besides starting to prosecute workers to support nan buildout of nan factory. It has posted 7 unfastened roles to LinkedIn wrong nan past month, including 1 for building manager.