Rumor Mill Pegs Rivian Opening Second Assembly Facility

Fresh off its megabucks IPO in which the company’s fortunes skyrocketed like your author’s blood pressure after a meal of fried foods, rumors are floating that Rivian is planning another factory. Suggested as being located in Georgia, it would play partner to the existing facility in Illinois.

Reporters at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have published a story claiming the suits at Rivian are in late-stage discussions with those who move the levers of power in the Goober State to open a vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing plant near Atlanta. Officially, the California-based EV automaker has simply stated they are in “discussions with multiple locations” for purposes of planting roots at a second factory. Talking heads suggest the state of Georgia has been aggressively recruiting Rivian for some time now.

The latter statement should not be a surprise. Note that the Peach State has been successful in attracting a number of companies in the EV sphere, such as SK Battery America who has agreed to plow $2.6 billion into a plant located roughly an hour south of Atlanta. Kia, alert readers will note, has been building vehicles in Georgia for more than a decade.

Nerds Informed consumers on various and sundry internet forums have been nattering about the so-called Project Tera, an initiative set forth by Rivian to build another factory in America. These conversations started well before this month’s IPO so it should be no surprise that, newly flush with Wall Street cash, the company is seemingly pushing forward with this venture. It’s worth noting that Arizona was tagged as a potential location in previous reports. All signs now point towards Georgia, however.

Company spox have been open about the inability of Rivian to turn a profit until it expands its production capacity. With the volume at their Illinois plant suggested to be capped at roughly 150,000 vehicles, a second factory would improve their fortunes in that regard quite dramatically. Currently, the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV are in the hopper, plus the delivery vans supposedly on tap for Amazon within the next five years.

Rivian has been in the news for several reasons lately, including allegations of a toxic workplace culture levied by a former executive. The company’s gold rush IPO also generated headlines, with the stock price charging ahead of its offering before the opening bell. This generated huge (on paper) profits for a number of investors, including the Ford Motor Company, which sank just over a billion dollars into the place. The current valuation of that investment? Roughly $12 billion. Not bad considering the move was made just over two years ago in April 2019.

The stock, which trades as RIVN on the ticker, is valued at $149.36 as of this writing.

[Image: Rivian]