Shares of the struggling electric car maker that competes with Tesla have soared this week after the lame-duck Biden administration loaned the company billions of dollars.
The Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it will provide Rivian with a $6.6 billion loan to build a $5 billion electric vehicle factory in Georgia that the company initially broke ground on but then postponed due to financial constraints.
Shares of Rivian, the California-based EV startup looking to take on Tesla (whose CEO Elon Musk is a central figure in President-elect Donald Trump's push), rose after news of the loan was announced early Tuesday. , up 15%.
The stock price rose 22% this week. On Wednesday, the stock traded at $12.20, up 5.6% recently.
Rivian loans, that is. We're told it's up to the company. Without actively opposing union organizing efforts at the facility, the company could complete construction of an Atlanta-area plant backed by Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
The facility will employ 7,500 people and is expected to begin manufacturing electric SUVs and trucks starting in 2028.
Vivek Ramaswami, a former Republican presidential candidate who was named by President Trump with Musk to co-head an advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency, criticized the Biden administration's move on Tuesday.
“Biden is investing more than $6.6 billion in electric vehicle maker Rivian to build a factory in Georgia that has already been shut down,” Ramaswamy wrote in X.
“One of the 'justifications' is that it will create 7,500 jobs, but that means it will cost $880,000 each, which is insane,” Ramaswamy said. He added that the move “smells like a political attack on @elonmusk and Elonmusk.” @Tesla”
Rivian, backed until last year by left-wing billionaire investor George Soros, is now worth just over $10 billion, up from $150 billion just three years ago. There is.
“This loan will create thousands of new jobs in the United States and help further strengthen America's leadership in EV manufacturing and technology,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe. Probably.'' I wrote in a press release on Monday.
“A strong ecosystem of American companies developing and manufacturing EVs is essential for the United States to maintain its long-term leadership in transportation.”
Musk this week denounced California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's “insane” plan to offer rebates to residents who buy electric cars, but the benefits would not apply to Tesla buyers.
Rivian's headquarters are in California, but the company's vehicles are manufactured at a factory formerly owned by Mitsubishi in Normal, Illinois.
Rivian's R1 cars cost more than $70,000. The company plans to produce its R2 vehicle, a low-cost small SUV for the mass market, in Georgia.
The first phase of Rivian's Georgia plant is expected to produce 200,000 vehicles per year, with the second phase expected to produce an additional 200,000 vehicles per year.
The loan to Rivian comes amid Musk's active campaign on Trump's behalf.
Musk has been fiercely critical of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, especially on contentious culture war issues such as government regulation of business, taxation, coronavirus lockdown measures, transgender care and free speech. He harshly criticizes issues such as:
The newspaper has contacted the White House for comment.
