Rivian bets the company: $5B Georgia factory breaks ground as EV credits fade

If there were a worst time to build an EV plant in America, this might be it. But Rivian is pressing the gas anyway, breaking ground Tuesday on a long-delayed $5 billion factory east of Atlanta—even as President Donald Trump’s rollback of EV tax credits kicks in Sept. 30, killing savings of up to $7,500 per car.

Rivian’s pitch: we’ll win on product, not subsidies.

“We did not build this company based upon federal tax incentives,” said Alan Hoffman, the EV maker’s chief policy officer. “We’re going to prove that we’re going to be successful in the future.”

The 2,000-acre site near Social Circle is Rivian’s path to mass-market scale and, finally, profit. Today it builds the premium R1T pickup and R1S SUV in Normal, Ill., plus delivery vans for Amazon and others (trucks start around $71,000). Illinois is slated to add the smaller R2 SUV next year with a $45,000 starting price and expand capacity to roughly 215,000 vehicles a year.

Georgia is the second leg of that stool: phase one targets up to 200,000 vehicles annually starting in 2028, with a second phase adding another 200,000. That’s a leap from the 40,000–46,000 deliveries Rivian expects this year (down from 52,000 in 2024 as it throttles output to prep 2026 models).

“For Rivian, it’s do-or-die time,” said Alex Oyler of SBD Automotive. “You can’t scale if your cheapest vehicle is $70,000. They need that plant online to scale R2 and ultimately R3.”

US EV sales growth has cooled—up just 1.5% in the first half of 2025, per Cox Automotive. Tesla still owns about 45% of the market, GM is up to 13%, and Rivian sits near 3%, facing fresh competition from Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Chevy’s electric Silverado.

Wall Street hasn’t been kind: since its 2021 IPO, Rivian shares are down more than 80%, and it lost $1.66 billion in the first half of 2025. Legacy players are wobbling too—Stellantis killed its Ram EV truck, Ford delayed a new Tennessee plant, and GM scrapped EV plans at a Detroit-area factory.

“With all the competition and slowing growth, it doesn’t play in Rivian’s favor,” said AutoForecast Solutions’ Sam Fiorani. “However, there still is an EV market.”

Georgia has put up a rich package—$1.5 billion in incentives tied to 7,500 jobs averaging at least $56,000, plus $175 million for land and roads. Gov. Brian Kemp, who wants Georgia to be “the electric mobility capital of America,” says he’s confident Rivian will deliver.

Rivian paused construction in 2024 as cash burned. The restart came after Volkswagen agreed to invest $5.8 billion for software and electrical tech, and the Biden administration approved a $6.6 billion Department of Energy loan in November. Despite the Trump administration’s hostility toward EVs, Rivian says it’s counting on DOE to disburse the funds.

Neighbors worry about groundwater and traffic.

“I planned on dying and retiring on the front porch,” said Eddie Clay, who lives less than a mile away. “The biggest project in Georgia has to go next door to me?”

Rivian also faces about $2,000 per-vehicle in tariffs, the end of tax credits that could shave roughly $140 million off revenue this year, and rising pressure from cheaper Chinese EVs.

Still, Hoffman insists Rivian’s in it “for the long haul.” The bet is simple—and massive: get Georgia built, get R2 (and R3) to scale, and prove there’s a thriving EV market even without a government tailwind.

The original story by Jeff Amy and Alexa St. John for AP.