As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) today announced a conditional commitment to Rivian New Horizon, LLC for a direct loan of up to $6.57 billion (including $5.975 billion of principal and $592 million of capitalized interest) to finance the development and construction of Project Horizon, an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility located in Stanton Springs North, near the City of Social Circle, Georgia. The project is owned by a subsidiary of Rivian Automotive, Inc. and is supported by an equity investment from the company. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to strengthen the nation’s manufacturing competitiveness, helping ensure American businesses remain global leaders in the rapidly expanding EV industry.
In support of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ efforts to deliver good-paying, high-quality job opportunities to communities across the country, this project expects to support up to 2,000 full-time jobs through construction and 7,500 operations jobs by 2030. If finalized, the loan will support construction of a nine million square foot facility to manufacture up to 400,000 mass-market electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossover vehicles. The workers at the Rivian facility will help build America’s clean transportation future by boosting the regional economy and adding to the nearly 16 million jobs created since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office.
At its Georgia facility, Rivian will produce its all-electric midsize platform (MSP) with its R2 and R3 models as the first variants in production. Rivian currently produces its three-row electric SUV, the R1S, and its electric pickup truck, the R1T, as well as commercial vans at its Normal, Illinois, facility.
The announcement reflects a material increase in domestic EV manufacturing and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 be zero-emissions. As one of a few American EV startups with light duty vehicles already on the road, Rivian’s Georgia facility will allow the company to reach production volumes that make its products more cost competitive and accelerate access to international markets. At full capacity, the EVs manufactured at the facility are expected to yield an annual fuel consumption savings of approximately 146 million gallons of petroleum.
If finalized, the loan would be offered under LPO’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, which provides loans to support U.S. manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles, qualifying components, and materials that improve fuel economy. The loan would mark the first ATVM loan under the Biden-Harris Administration to produce advanced technology vehicles (ATVs), as opposed to ATV components.
LPO borrowers are required to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP). CBPs ensure borrowers meaningfully engage with communities and labor groups to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of residents and workers. As outlined in its CBP, Rivian intends to hire at least a quarter of its employees at the Stanton Springs facility from these communities. Today’s announcement also supports the Justice40 Initiative, which requires 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments in climate, clean energy, and other areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Rivian is also working alongside the local technical college system to create training programs to attract, train, and retain the required workforce. This includes working with the State of Georgia’s QuickStart technical training incentive program, which provides customized workforce training to companies making job-creating investments in the state. Rivian currently has approximately twenty apprentices local to Georgia who have completed their initial round of education and are currently receiving job training at Rivian’s Illinois plant. Upon completion of the program, the apprentices will return to Georgia to work in the facility once it is operational. Rivian is exploring expanding participation in this program to other career paths.
While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE and the company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.
