Biden administration preliminarily OKs $6.6B loan to EV maker Rivian

The Biden administration has preliminarily said it would give a $6.6 billion loan to electric vehicle maker Rivian for a plant in Georgia. 

The administration said the loan would support the construction of a facility where Rivian will make up to 400,000 “mass-market” electric SUVs and crossovers. 

Specifically, it will support construction of Rivian’s R2 and R3 models, which the company says will be sold at a “significantly lower price point” than its flagship R1 vehicle, which is considered to be a luxury car.

The announcement comes as the incoming Trump administration is poised to take aim at EVs. Trump has pledged to roll back standards that are expected to force traditional automakers to make a greater share of their fleets electric or hybrid. 

Trump’s team is also reportedly planning to repeal a consumer tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of EVs, though doing so would require an act of Congress. 

The Biden administration has emphasized support for electric vehicles as a tool for combatting climate change and pollution.

It has also argued that supporting the sector’s growth can also support job creation, though Republicans have pushed back on that narrative, warning that a shift to EVs would harm workers who make gas-powered cars. Experts have told The Hill the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

The funds for the conditional loan to Rivian come from the Energy Department’s Loan Program Office, which lends money to support the development of new technologies. 

That office, which also gave funds to Tesla in 2010, has doled out billions of dollars under the Biden administration. 

The incoming Trump administration is expected to be much less interested in delivering loans for emerging low-carbon energy technology. As of late September, the office had $24 billion in conditional loans that were not yet finalized. 

The Biden administration says that the Rivian facility would support 2,000 full-time construction jobs and 7,500 operations jobs by 2030.

“This loan will help create thousands of new American jobs and further strengthen U.S. leadership in EV manufacturing and technology,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe in a written statement. “

This loan would enable Rivian to more aggressively scale our U.S. manufacturing footprint for our competitively priced R2 and R3 vehicles that emphasize both capability and affordability,” Scaringe added. 

Prices for the R2, one of the vehicles that would be made at the facility, are expected to start around $45,000. The average price of a new car in the U.S. was $48,623 in October, according to Kelley Blue Book.