Rivian is considering a location in Georgia for its planned second United States factory, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.
The automaker is looking at a site east of Atlanta on Interstate 20, but negotiations have not been finalized, according to the report, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
Rivian currently owns a former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, that has been repurposed to build the R1T electric pickup truck, R1S electric SUV, and electric delivery vans for Amazon. The automaker confirmed plans for a second plant back in July, with Reuters confirming multiple states were vying for it.
An earlier report had indicated that Texas—and the Ft. Worth area—were in the lead. However, the state of Georgia has aggressively pitched Rivian for months, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rivian R1S
Officials have pitched state-owned industrial property near Savannah to automakers, the newspaper noted, adding that it's unclear why Rivian might prefer the I-20 site east of Atlanta to the Savannah site.
Georgia is already home to a Kia assembly plant in West Point near the Alabama border, while a massive SK Innovation battery complex is under construction in Commerce, about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta.
When complete, SK Innovation claims the site will produce batteries for 300,000 EVs annually. It's expected to supply cells for Volkswagen ID.4 production in Tennessee and Ford F-150 Lightning production in the Detroit area.
In addition to a second assembly plant, Rivian has also hinted at plans to make its own batteries in the future—and perhaps expand into Europe, with local manufacturing there. Samsung SDI is currently the sole supplier of battery cells to Rivian, and was reportedly considering a manufacturing location near Rivian's current Illinois assembly plant.
