Rivian reduces DOE loan to $4.5B, boosts Georgia plant capacity 50%

Rivian has reworked its loan deal with the Department of Energy and now expects to borrow $4.5 billion to build its new factory in Georgia, down from the original amount of $6.6 billion allocated under the Biden administration. The company also announced Thursday that it will draw on the loan sooner than planned, in early 2027, and expects to increase the total capacity of the Georgia plant from 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles in its initial phase of operation — another sign that the company has high hopes for its upcoming R2 SUV. The larger capacity — a 50% increase over its initial plans — will help lower its per unit costs, while also providing significant room for future expansion of capacity in later phases, the company said Thursday. Some of the factory's capacity will be used to produce R2 robotaxis for Uber. Under a deal struck earlier this year, Uber is making an initial $300 million investment in Rivian and is expected to purchase 10,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis ahead of a planned rollout in San Francisco and Miami in 2028. That initial $300 million payment is expected to close in the second quarter, and another $250 million investment is planned for later this year, according to Rivian. The ride-hailing company has the option to buy up to 40,000 more autonomous R2 SUVs from Rivian starting in 2030. Uber will has said it will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031 if the automaker meets a series of milestones. Rivian broke ground on the Georgia factory late last year and is in the beginning stages of doing so-called vertical construction at the site located outside Atlanta. The company expects to start making vehicles by the end of 2028. Until then, Rivian will build R2 SUVs at its current factory in Normal, Illinois. The company recently started production of the R2 despite the plant suffering damage from a tornado, and Rivian said Thursday it has made initial deliveries to employees. Deliveries to customers are expected to start in the coming weeks, according to Rivian. The modifications to the DOE loan come as Rivian revealed financial results for the first quarter of 2026 on Thursday. The company generated $1.38 billion in revenue, with $908 million coming from vehicle sales and $473 million from software and services. Rivian's automotive revenue declined about 2% from the same year-ago period, due in part to drop in regulatory credits. The company lost $416 million in the quarter, down from a $541 million loss in the same period last year. That net loss shrank thanks, in part, to s $506 million gain in other income related to the Series A capital raise and related deconsolidation of CEO RJ Scaringe's new startup Mind Robotics, according to the company. Rivian saw its operating expenses and R&D costs grow year-over-year. Rivian's R&D budget expanded 20% to $458 million as it increased spending on R2 pre-production costs as well as software and cloud services related to the development of autonomous vehicle technology. The combination of these rising costs, plus a small uptick in capital spending, was a drag on Rivian's free cash flow, which is in negative territory. The company reported a negative free cash flow of $1 billion, nearly double from a year ago.