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 an immediate loan of up to $6 .57 billion (including $5.975 billion). of principal and $592 million in 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 backed by an equity investment from the company. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to strengthening the nation’s manufacturing competitiveness and ensuring that American companies remain global leaders in the fast-growing EV industry.

In support of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ efforts to provide high-paying, high-quality jobs to communities across the country, this project expects to support up to 2,000 full-time construction jobs and 7,500 operations jobs by 2030. Once completed, the loan will support the construction of a nine-million-square-foot facility to produce up to 400,000 mass-market electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossover vehicles. Employees 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 plant, Rivian will produce its all-electric midsize platform (MSP) with the R2 and R3 models the first variants in production. Rivian currently produces its electric three-row SUV, the R1S, and its electric pickup, the R1T, as well as commercial vehicles at its factory in Normal, Illinois.

The announcement reflects a significant increase in domestic EV production and supports the Biden-Harris administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 will be zero-emission. As one of the few U.S. light-vehicle EV startups already on the road, Rivian’s Georgia factory will allow the company to achieve production volumes that make its products more cost-competitive and accelerate entry into international markets. At full capacity, the electric vehicles produced at the plant are expected to deliver annual fuel consumption savings of approximately 146 million liters of petroleum.

If completed, 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 be the first ATVM loan under the Biden-Harris administration for the production of advanced technology vehicles (ATVs), as opposed to ATV components.

LPO borrowers must develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefit Plan (CBP). CBPs ensure that borrowers work meaningfully with communities and labor groups to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of residents and workers. As outlined in the CBP, Rivian plans 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 that 40% of the total benefits from certain federal investments in climate, clean energy and other areas flow to underserved communities marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Rivian also partners with the local technical college system to establish training programs to attract, train and retain the necessary 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 20 students from Georgia who have completed their initial training and are currently receiving vocational training at Rivian’s plant in Illinois. Upon completion of the program, students will return to Georgia to work at the facility once it is operational. Rivian is investigating whether participation in this program can be expanded to other career paths.

While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE and the company must meet certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before the Department enters into final financing documents and funds the loan.