(25News Now) - Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive said it has finalized a $6.6 billion loan agreement with the federal government just days before the Trump Administration takes over.
The loan will help Rivian speed-up construction of a plant in Georgia in which the company plans to make second and third generation electric vehicles. Currently, EVs are only made at Rivian’s factory in Normal.
“This loan will help us accelerate the launch of our Georgia plant for R2 and R3, providing thousands of jobs in the state,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe in a prepared statement. “People are incredibly excited to get behind the wheel of our new models, and this additional capacity for our mass market products is key to U.S. leadership in the electric vehicle industry.”
The money comes from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which set aside $17.7 billion to provide low-cost loans to make fuel-efficient vehicles and components. The program focused mostly on loans to new battery factories for electric vehicles in recent years but also helped finance the initial production of the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf.
The Trump team has been critical of the Biden Administration’s deal, specifically former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who said the loan “smells more like a political shot across the bow” at Elon Musk and Tesla, which is one of Rivian’s main competitors in the EV market.
Musk and Ramaswamy are leading the incoming administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Ramaswamy said the 7,500 jobs created at the Georgia plant would come at an “insane” cost of $880,000 per job.
In the past, the president-elect promised to end federal electric vehicle tax credits, which are worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles and $4,000 for used vehicles.
Rivian said it has begun hiring for construction and management roles at the Georgia plant.
Terms of Rivian’s deal with the federal government can be found here.
